We're Goin' Down Swinging
by ambr0isie
Summary: After everything, Lacey shouldn't feel anything towards Danny. She shouldn't feel a compulsion to be around him; she should hate him. However, Danny always had a way of getting what he wanted from Lacey as a kid and her time and attention is no different. With every secret meeting, Lacey can feel herself slipping into Danny's stronghold and she knows she'll never recover.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey there! So, I started writing this after the second episode but it's taken me so long to actually consider putting it up here on the web. After watching the pilot back in March, I was completely enamored by Danny and Lacey's dynamic and their unspoken connection that I had to create a story for them. Please note that this story probably won't follow the same plot line. That being said, I hope you enjoy the first installment. :) **_

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Lacey turned her iHome down, the soft melody of her 'easy listening' mix dying as she made her way from the living room to the front foyer. She heard a knock on the door and was somewhat surprised, seeing that Sarita never woke up before one of the weekends and Archie had soccer practice every Saturday morning. Lacey glanced at her reflection in the mirror, wiped the small beads of sweat away from her nose, and opened the door.

"Jo." Lacey stated, folding her arms and staring down at the small, grungy looking girl she used to call her best friend. Lacey tried to hide her grimace as she took in Jo's disheveled appearance. Her hair was usually a mess and she normally wore that oversized, ill green jacket every day.

"Hey, Lacey," Jo smiled awkwardly, waving. Lacey waited for Jo to continue but the latter stood there as if she were expecting an invitation to speak.

"Well?" Lacey asked irritably. "Are you going to say something? You came here, you know?"

Jo furrowed her brow and bit the inside of her cheek. "Uh, yeah," She started, looking down into the palms of her hands. "I heard you went to that Regina grieving session thing. How was it?"

Lacey rolled her eyes at Jo trying to beat around the bush but since it pertained to Regina—and Lacey was never one to disrespect the dead with bad karma and all that—she responded. "It was fine." She knew she didn't fully utilize the grieving session properly but she went to appease Archie and to clean up the mess she was causing in their relationship.

"I bet!" Jo piped up. "You know, it's a great thing…speaking your mind. It can alleviate stress and it seems to me you have a lot of stress." Jo's eyes narrowed as her words stung against Lacey's skin.

"Jo," Lacey started, taking a step forward to reinforce the hierarchy that was established between the two over the last five years. "Are you forgetting how things work around here now? Since Danny's back, you think you're all Nancy Drew, sleuthing around to place Regina's murder on someone else. Let me tell you something: I have no idea what happened that night. I was drinking and yeah, I remember going to Danny's house but I also fell asleep. Who knows what he could have done while I was asleep? So, don't think my testimony is going to set Socio free."

Jo recoiled slightly and she crossed her arms over her chest in defiance. "But it could help." Jo stated firmly. Lacey began to grow annoyed with Jo's constant persistence. She was like a dog, loyal to anyone who showed some her promise and attention. "When did you get so selfish? When did helping someone become uncool in your little world? What are you afraid of? What could be so incriminating to you that you won't go down to that precinct and tell my dad that you were with Danny the night Regina died?"

Lacey drew in her breath and straightened her back. "I don't want to hear this right now. I would appreciate it if you could come back to grill me after 11 AM." Lacey snapped, placing her hands to cup the sides of her face.

"That's great, Lace; run away from the problem like you always do." Jo shook her head. "You're weak. Are you afraid of what Archie's going to think, knowing that you spent the night 'sleeping' at Danny's house?" Jo started. Her eyes were narrowed and her voice hissed with venom. "If you're afraid of him leaving you for that, maybe your relationship wasn't that great to begin with."

Lacey's hand clutched in a fist and she willed herself not to slap Jo right across the face. "We're done here." Lacey smiled, placing her hand on door to get ready to shut it. "Jo, don't come to my house and question my character or my relationship because that will be the last time you'll be doing any type of talking." Lacey threatened, shutting the door in Jo's face.

Lacey's pulse started to race and her mind was scattered. The hour of yoga mixed with pilates she was just doing couldn't calm her. She had to get out of the house right away. Lacey raced up the stairs and into the bathroom, taking a quick shower. She hastily put together a black outfit: black peplum top and a pair of black faux leather leggings with black booties. Lacey did a quick once over and grimaced at how lifeless her face looked. Her fingers fumbled over the vanity filled with makeup products. "What even possesses a person to do something like that?" Lacey questioned herself. "She doesn't know me. She hasn't known me in a long time. Who is she to question my actions?"

Lacey couldn't make sense of Jo's inappropriate behavior. Why did Lacey have to come into the station and testify for Danny? He was doing fine. He didn't need her and she didn't need him. Lacey poked herself in the eye with her eyeliner and swore under her breath as she cleaned up her mess. "Damn Danny Desai, you're ruining everything." She mumbled under her breath.

Lacey debated driving to the soccer field but she thought the fresh air would clear her head though walking would cause her feet to hurt drastically. She headed up her street, turning at the corner to Main Street. It was pretty low key, not too busy. The local coffee shop was opening and Lacey could smell the freshly brewed cups getting handed to deprived souls. Lacey tried to convince herself not to go into the coffee shop but she couldn't resist.

The doors jingled as she entered and the smell of ground coffee beans greeted her nose. Lacey tapped her fingers on the counter while the cashier placed scones in the display case. "Morning, what can I do for you?" The girl asked.

"Uh, black Americano with an extra shot of espresso." Lacey ordered, thinking she should order something for Archie but it would be cold by the time she made it over there.

"That'll be four fifty." The cashier said, taking Lacey's debit card from her hand, swiping it. She took slow deep breaths; she knew once she saw Archie, he would say something funny or stupid to make her laugh and forget about this whole situation with Jo and Danny and Regina and murder. She broke out of her thoughts when she was handed a cup of piping hot coffee. "Thanks," Lacey offered the cashier a weak smile before turning on her heel.

She wasn't paying much attention to the door but when she heard the familiar jingle of the doorbells, Lacey looked up and nearly choked. Danny was walking into the coffee shop. She couldn't even pretend that she didn't see him since she let out a small squeal and his eyes were locked on hers. Why did he always show up at the most random times?

"Lacey," Danny said warmly, giving her a smile.

Lacey straightened herself out. She couldn't let him know that he made her nervous. She was in the one in control, not him. "Well if it isn't the devil himself."

Danny ran his fingers through his hair, which wasn't tied back like it usually was. "From Socio to the devil; how many nicknames do you have for me, Lace?" Danny laughed.

"Stick around and I may come up with some more." Lacey replied, trying to be threatening but something about being around him made Lacey feel lighthearted and free…like she was a child again. She caught herself smiling at him and he was easily reciprocating. "Well, I have to go." Lacey blurted out, trying to get around him.

"Alright, have a great day." Danny waved at her. "You look nice, by the way." He pointed out, eyeing her.

Lacey blushed, looking down at her clothes. "Thanks, I mean I just sort of threw it on." Lacey giggled before snapping her mouth shut. "No," She pointed her finger. "No, stop doing that."

Danny furrowed his brow in confusion. "I don't get it." He replied simply.

"Stop making me want to talk to you! Stop making me want to laugh with you! I'm trying really hard to be mad at you, Danny, and you're making things really difficult." Lacey explained.

Danny bowed his head while he grinned. "Alright, Lacey," He obliged.

"Tell your watchdog to stop coming to my house." Lacey added.

"I'm allergic." Danny toyed, his lips quirking into a crooked smile that Lacey couldn't help but be mesmerized with.

Lacey bit back a smile. "You haven't spoken to her?" She inquired, taking a sip of her coffee.

"You're the first person I've talked to all morning." Danny confessed, looking up at her with his deep brown, brooding eyes. His voice echoed in her ears until it was the only thing she could focus on. "What happened?"

Lacey shook her head. "I'm sure she'll tell you later."

"But I want you to tell me…maybe over lunch?" Danny asked.

Was he asking her out on a date? He couldn't. He knew she was dating someone. She wasn't going to say yes. She couldn't say yes. How would that make her look? She could see the school blogs now: Queen Lacey schlepping with resident Socio. "Uh, I can't." Lacey replied quickly, offering a fake smile.

"Because you're afraid of me or because of your boyfriend?" Danny questioned bluntly.

Though she didn't want to believe it, Danny wasn't as menacing as the town made him out to be. In the back of her mind, Danny was still just goofy, eleven year old Danny from down the block. However, it seemed like that goofy Danny was masked by this tall, intriguing, hot guy in front of her and she couldn't trust herself around him. The last time they were alone, they almost kissed. Lacey couldn't let that happen again. "Because I already made plans with Sarita," Lacey lied. "We'll do a rain check, maybe?" She didn't actually mean it wholeheartedly but she thought it would be polite to make it seem that way.

Danny laughed at her obvious insincerity but nodded at her offer. "Alright, Lace. I'll see you around." Danny waved her goodbye. "You do really look lovely today…radiant even."

Lacey stared at him, feeling her stature lean closer to him at his sultry voice and sugared compliments. Archie never said anything like that; it was always something slightly misogynistic or derogatory. Danny's eyes quickly flickered to her lips and back to meet her eyes. "See you around, Lace." He repeated, smiling because he knew what he was doing to her.

Lacey cleared her throat and nodded. "Yeah," She walked past him, tempted to look back at him but she wasn't willing to grant him the satisfaction.

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_**How did you guys enjoy this? Feel free to leave comments and reviews. I love hearing predictions and things of that nature so if I hear something I like, it may just end up in chapters to come. xx**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**I'm so sorry it's taken me a while to upload this next chapter. I've been working on other things and I haven't been able to upload as frequently. I hope you all bear with me. **_

_**Disclaimer: I know Archie is sort of seen as this douche, dumb jock but I always kind of wanted him to be more of a lovesick boyfriend who's desperately trying to hold on to Lacey if that makes sense. Hopefully, that came across in this chapter and chapters to come. **_

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Danny unlocked the front door and stepped inside his home. When he came back from juvie, he was shocked to see that his mother hadn't altered a single detail. The vase Aunt Tara gave his parents as a bridal gift still held its presence on top of the fireplace underneath the family portrait, Karen Desai didn't have the heart to remove. Everything about Danny's house reminded him of that day. He learned in juvie to departmentalize his emotions. After time, the only feelings natural to him were regret and anger.

"Danny?" His mother called from the kitchen. He followed the voice until he saw his mother, sipping coffee and looking over the local newspaper. She looked up at him and smiled brightly as if they were a stereotypical family. "You were out early this morning."

"If you consider ten o'clock early," Danny shrugged, picking up an apple from the fruit basket and studying it.

Mrs. Desai blinked a few times and pursed her lips. "Where did you head off to?"

"I just took a wonderful stroll. I went to the café." Danny replied, smiling. "You won't believe who I saw there." He looked at his mother with wide eyes filled with excitement. His mother furrowed her brow, noting her son's excitement. She folded her paper shut and focused her attention on him. It was nice to see him being happy about something or in this case someone. "Lacey...Lacey Porter," Danny finished.

"Oh, Danny," she shook her head. "She did spend the night the other day."

"That's different, mother." Danny brushed off. "It's always better to see someone in the light of day."

Mrs. Desai shrugged. "It would be nice to see Lacey and talk to her. Not that I don't love seeing her race down the stairs in a party dress at six AM." She quipped. Karen hoped to get a little laugh from her son but he remained his usual stoic self. "She's a real beautiful girl. When I stopped by the school the other day, I saw her in the middle of a group of other kids. She wasn't always a leader like that though, right?"

Danny thought back to his younger years and the time he spent with Lacey and Jo. Their dynamic was an interesting one to say the least but Lacey was the quiet leader. She never obsessed over small details that he and Jo would freak out about. She looked at the bigger picture. Lacey had a good head on her shoulders so Danny and Jo instantly looked to her for advice because she seemed like the only one who knew anything about anything. "She was. She always got us out of trouble." Danny recalled, his voice sounded a bit jaded as he reminisced. "Mother, do you remember those dinners you would throw for us on Thursdays? What was it called?"

"Tex Mex Thursdays," Karen replied. "Why?"

"Why don't we do that again? I can invite Jo and Lacey; it'll be like old times. You can sit and talk to them and catch up." Danny explained, growing excited at the idea of having his two best friends back in his house together, grappling over quesadillas and lemonade. However, the thought of Jo going to Lacey's house this morning still burned in the back of his mind. He wanted all of them to be friends again and he couldn't do that if Jo was throwing around accusations and orders to one-third of their trio.

Karen nodded; her face lighting up at the idea. "That sounds great, Danny. Yeah, I will run to the market and pick up some things later on this week."

Danny was about to write a list of the things she would need to pick up when he heard the doorbell ring. He cut his mother off and headed to the foyer, opening the door. Jo stood there, smiling as she clutched her jacket to her body. "Hey," She smiled, walking in.

"Jo, nice to see you." Danny responded. "What's up?"

Jo looked around the house and her eyes lingered over the family portrait and she coughed subtly. "I was just walking and I wound up over here." She replied.

"You can come over any time, you know that." Danny said sincerely, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Actually, do you want to head out for some lunch or something? It'll be my treat." He asked flashing her a smile.

Jo's eyes flickered and her lips parted as if to say yes but her actual statement was the opposite. "I can't. I'm sorry. My parents and I are driving out to see my aunt and a few of my cousins. I would invite you but…you and my dad aren't on great terms." Jo bowed her head as if to apologize. Chief Masterson was doggedly trying to place Regina's murder on Danny and he used any type of lead to bring it back to him.

Danny's lips thinned in a line and shrugged. "Wow, two rejections in one day." He sighed.

Jo's eyebrows furrowed and three distinct lines formed on her forehead. "Two?"

"Yeah, I asked Lacey to hang out today but she has plans with Sideburn Sarita." Danny joked. He was still slightly hurt that Lacey didn't want to speak to him after their sleepover. He believed that if they could hang out more, Lacey would see that the walls she built to block him out weren't needed; he was still Danny.

Jo scoffed, crossing her arms. "Why do you want to hang out with her?"

Danny recoiled at the bitterness in Jo's voice. "Why are you so adamant about me not hanging out with her? She was my best friend, Jo. She was yours too."

"Five years ago, Danny," Jo spat back. "We both changed over five years. Her change is a bit more noticeable. She doesn't want anything to do with you…or me. She won't even go to the precinct and tell my dad she was here the night Regina died. She doesn't care!"

"Jo," Danny started, taking a few deep breaths. He couldn't risk losing his temper with her. She was stubborn and fiery. If you added fuel to the fire, Jo would get more and more out of hand. Danny didn't want that. "I understand you are hurt by whatever Lacey did that made you and her not friends. I know I play a role in that. I understand you are trying to help me in all this madness, but please do not go around forcing Lacey to say anything. I'm trying to regain some sort of normalcy and you're making it difficult." Danny said, looking into her eyes. "All I'm asking is for you to be civil with Lacey. You don't have to braid each other's hair or have pillow fights…though I would enjoy that." He cracked a smile while Jo rolled her eyes at the idea but she wasn't as riled up as he thought she would be. "Just be civil."

Jo groaned. "Fine," She caved. "I just don't want you to get your hopes up. Lacey's different now. She's fickle. She has a way of making you feel important for a bit but then she cuts you off." Jo feigned a smile. "I'll see you later." She headed for the door, looking back over her shoulder as an unspoken apology for her actions. Danny had to make things right for his two best friends. If he couldn't have Lacey in the way he really wanted her, he would settle with being her friend and Jo couldn't ruin that.

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Lacey found herself stepping onto the grass of the soccer field cautiously. Scott looked up from his position on the field and waved at her, nudging Archie next to him. Lacey climbed over to the bleachers and took a seat next to some of water dispensers and some duffel bags that reeked of sweat and dirty socks. The team broke apart, each running in a different direction. Scott and Archie made their way to Lacey. Archie ran over, slid down on his knees and positioned himself by her legs. "Morning, babe," He smiled up at her, giving her a kiss.

"Hi," She whispered in return, trying to forget that she was with Danny not too long ago. Archie placed his hands on her legs. "How was practice?" Lacey inquired, running her fingers through his hair.

"Coach wants to move me from striker to midfield." Archie explained, even though he knew Lacey didn't fully understand. Lacey furrowed her brow and nodded like she knew what he was talking about. "Striker scores goals and midfielder is more of a defense. Midfield is important too; without a midfield, strikers are kind of lost but I don't know, being a striker is my life, you know." Archie groaned slightly in annoyance.

"Grow a pair." Scott rolled his eyes, throwing his bag over his shoulder and heading to the locker room.

"Hey, no matter where you play, you'll be the best the team's ever had." Lacey encouraged, bending over to kiss him again. "What are you doing tonight?" She questioned.

Archie shrugged, getting up and sitting next to her. "Nothing," He answered, taking a sip from his water bottle.

"Are your parents going to be home?"

"I think my mom's got an art gallery to go to tonight and my dad's been out of town for a while…" Archie started, glancing over at her and raising his eyebrows. "You want to come over?"

Lacey nodded. "But no funny business, Arch," She warned as he wrapped his arms around her waist and burrowed his head on her neck, peppering kisses there. "I mean it."

He looked up her and rolled his eyes. "You said that last time." He shrugged off.

Lacey wiggled out of his grasp and stared him straight in the eye. "Look, I love you but dead best friends are a bit of a turn off." She explained. Archie opened his mouth to state his rebuttal but he nodded his compliance and went back to creating a hickey on her neck. Lacey removed him from her. "And so are smelly soccer boyfriends." Lacey replied sweetly. "Go shower."

Archie groaned, getting up. Lacey pulled him back once more and gave him another kiss. "I love you." She said again. She felt like she had to say it over and over as a penance for wanting to hang out with Danny. "I really love you."

"No, I love you." Archie smiled genuinely. He kissed her forehead. "You're my Lacey. You'll always be my Lacey."


	3. Chapter 3

In actuality, Lacey didn't know what to gain from going to Archie's house that night. Was she hoping for him to just be there for her? Was she hoping that Archie would step up and be the man she now yearned for? The man she now found in Danny? Was she hoping that Lacey would forget about everything that's happened in this past few weeks?

She now realized that the things she hoped for weren't necessarily going to happen. Going to Archie's house only put ideas in his head that she wasn't even sure she wanted. Now, lying under his body weight, Lacey felt herself regretting coming here. His breath reeked of the two shots of tequila and his hands groped her waist then the inside of her thighs. She didn't want this type of release. She didn't want to feel him entering her. She didn't want to feel him even on her. She just wanted to talk to someone. With all these new friends Lacey acquired over the years, her list of people to talk to ran rather short.

"Archie, stop," Lacey replied. Her voice was slurred slightly and her ears rung. She knew it wasn't the wisest thing to drink since she was technically emotionally unstable but it seemed like the easiest way out of her funk. Archie, however, continued his mission of getting into her pants. "Archie, baby, come on, stop it." She could tell her voice wasn't demanding enough because Archie didn't even take the time to slow down.

One of his hands gripped at her side, pushing her shirt up and the other was rubbing up and down her thigh. His sweat wafted of alcohol and cologne and his kisses were the furthest thing from sweet right now. "Get off!" Lacey snapped.

Archie groaned his response and sat next to her on his couch. "What the hell, Lace?" He questioned. His eyes were glassy and his pupils were dilated. He obviously wasn't in the right sorts.

"I told you I wasn't going to do that." Lacey responded, folding her arms. "Let's just get back to the movie."

"You wanted to come here, remember?" Archie pointed out. "What am I supposed to think when my girlfriend wants to come to my house when my parents are away? I thought you were joking about the whole watching movies business."

"Do I ever joke?" Lacey snapped, glaring at him.

Archie raised his eyebrows and snorted. "Right," He shook his head, placing his head on her shoulder and making it so easy for her to forgive him. "Babe, it's been nearly two months." He whined.

Lacey rolled her eyes. "What's your point?"

"That it's been two months!" Archie exclaimed. She could tell he was getting annoyed and frustrated with her though his reason for doing so was trivial in Lacey's mind. "I really just don't understand what's going on with you. I get it; you're upset Regina died but this afternoon you wanted to come here. You used to be all over me a few weeks ago now it's like you don't want to touch me."

"Are you really going to get all frustrated because I'm not going to sleep with you? Grow up, Archie." Lacey groaned, getting up. She fixed her shirt and stepped into her shoes.

"Lace, I'm sorry." Archie apologized. "Come on, stay here." He extended his arms in a helpless way and aimlessly grabbed the space around her. Lacey grabbed her bag and slipped out the back door.

She instantly regretted not driving to Archie's house herself. Now she had to walk all the way back home by herself. Lacey went back to humming a little melody she came up with when she was around ten when she had to walk home by herself. It was nothing original or creative; it a mess of commercial jingles and old childhood theme songs mashed together but something about the transition between the Rugrats theme song and the Doublemint jingle calmed Lacey down tremendously.

Lacey wandered on the main street once again and battled with the idea of calling Sarita to hang out but knowing Sarita, she would say no or come up with some excuse to get out of it. Lacey just needed someone to talk to because it seemed like no one understood her position. No one understood the emotional and mental trauma she was facing but she didn't exactly let anyone know about it in the first place. If Jo had been nicer to her this morning, Lacey figured she would have went to her for help but the topic of Lacey's testimony would be the most pressing issue in the Masterson household.

Lacey placed her hand over her stomach as it growled. She hadn't eaten anything today and she knew if she showed up home without eating, her parents would assign her to another therapist for further psychoanalysis. She crossed the street to the diner and sat down at the counter. It was surprisingly desolate but then again it was a Saturday evening and most teenagers had plans. A menu was stuffed in her hands and her eyes flickered over every fattening thing on the menu but resorted to her usual diner picks. "French fries and a chocolate milkshake, please," Lacey ordered, leaning on top of the counter and hanging her head in shame.

She wondered if anyone else in this diner felt as alone as she did in this moment. Her best friend was dead. Sarita wasn't much of a friend to begin with. Archie was drunk and horny—a combination that Lacey didn't necessarily find attractive. There was Jo but she hasn't had a normal conversation with Jo in five years so showing up on Jo's doorstep to unload was completely out of the question. Then, there's always Danny…

"Shit," Lacey mumbled, bowing her head and using her hair to shield her face when she noticed Danny in the back of the diner reading a collection of Shakespearean sonnets. He looked engrossed enough in his book but something about the way his eyes moved under his lids made it seem like he was also very aware of what was happening around him.

"Order for Lacey!" The cook in the back yelled, sliding her food in front of her. Lacey recoiled at the volume at which he said her name and she looked over her shoulder, seeing Danny looking at her.

He got up and took the empty seat next to her. "So you bailed on me, saying you had plans but now I see you here. What's that about?" Danny questioned, plucking a fry from her plate.

"If I remember correctly, you wanted to hang out for lunch. It is clearly nighttime." Lacey snapped back, moving her fries away from him.

Danny nodded. "And if I remember correctly, you said we could do a rain check. How about now?" He asked. Lacey gulped. The intensity in his eyes excited her yet scared her. She should be cautious; he killed his aunt and possibly her best friend but…he was still Danny.

"Sorry, I can't." Lacey said again.

"Why?" Danny's eyebrows knitted into a taut line. He was giving her that look more and more recently and she was beginning to find it sexy. "It doesn't seem like you're with someone and you look like you might want to talk to someone. I need to talk to someone, too." Danny stated. His hair fell into his face and he pushed it back with a swift hand movement. Lacey could feel his body heat radiating onto her. She could hear his steady breath next to her and if she listened very closely and blocked out that sizzling of fatty burgers and 50s jingles, she could hear that his heartbeat would be in perfect time with her own if it ever slowed down. "And I'd really love to talk to you, Lace." He smiled, bumping into shoulder playfully. "Please,"

Lacey couldn't fight that singsong voice he put on even if she wanted to. "Fine," She sighed. "But you can't eat any of my fries."

Danny lifted his hands up and nodded. "Agreed," He placed his book on the counter top and glanced over at her. "Talking to you makes up for it."

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_**It's Twisted Tuesday! So this is a shorter chapter but I wanted to upload it because it is a Tuesday after all. The next chapter, the continuation of Danny and Lacey's time at the diner, will be posted sometime this week. Hope you enjoy! xx**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Wow, that last Twisted episode was just...wow. **__**But, I promised a new chapter before the week was up and here it is! To be honest with you, I wrote this a while ago and I'm not totally happy with it but I'll just leave it be. Hopefully, you guys enjoy. xx**_

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Their conversation was supposed to be quick. Lacey vowed that after she finished eating, she would leave, but there she was with an empty plate of fries and still laughing with Danny. "I'm telling you Ms. Gander and Mr. Roberts have a thing!" Lacey tried to convince Danny. "You've only been at the school for like three days! You haven't seen their connection!"

Danny rolled his eyes, taking a sip of Lacey's melted milkshake. She didn't know when he first started to drink from it and she didn't mind; it felt natural. "Is their sexual tension too much to bear?" Danny joked, pushing his hair to the side.

"It is!" Lacey vouched.

"Does it make anyone around them all hot and bothered?" Danny wiggled his eyebrows coyly.

Lacey took her drink back and sipped at it quickly. "Let's just say it's like walking into a Trojan commercial." She purred.

"I'll have to check out this action. Pun intended." Danny said, leaning into her. "So what's going on with you, Lace? Do you play sports or anything?"

"When have you ever known me to play sports?" Lacey questioned, laughing at him over her shoulder. "Try something else."

"How are your parents?" Danny tried. His fingers brushed against hers as he took the drink from her.

"Same old," Lacey shrugged. She didn't feel like talking about her parents and Danny was quick to pick up on that.

"How's Archie?" Danny questioned as if he knew that Lacey came from his house.

Lacey looked over at Danny and he was staring at her intently with curiosity, concern, and something else she couldn't quite identify. "I don't want to talk about that." Lacey answered rigidly.

Danny nodded his compliance. "I get it but I mean, who else can you talk about your boyfriend with? Sarita probably doesn't want to be bothered and I bet your parents are too keen on you dating."

"My parents actually really like Archie." Lacey snapped, knowing full well that Danny was right. It wasn't that they didn't like Archie specifically; they hated any boy she ever brought home even on a platonic level.

Danny looked shocked. "I guess...he seems friendly. He made a lasting impression on me." He flashed her a cheeky grin and Lacey punched him on the arm but quickly laughed.

"He has a way with first impressions." She noted.

"Yeah? How'd you guys meet?" Danny inquired. Lacey didn't know why he was so interested in her relationship. Maybe he was just trying to help her. If she had someone to talk to, it would make her life a bit easier...even if it was the Socio.

"Uh," Lacey started. "It was the summer before freshman year and I was all nervous about going into high school. Regina had an older sister, who was a senior, and she said she would get us into this kickback party. I went to Regina's house a few hours before and her sister dressed us up to the nines, like we were wearing heels and skimpy dresses that you could practically see through. But, at the party, I was at the keg, getting my first drink ever, and some guy slapped my ass. It was Archie." Lacey frowned.

"How romantic," Danny deadpanned.

"Very," Lacey laughed at the memory. "Regina was jealous because no one slapped her ass. But anyway, I avoided Archie like the plague for the rest of the night. It was around eleven and I wanted to head home but Regina was trying to work her magic on some senior goalie so I walked home by myself and I saw Archie walking. He noticed me and came over and apologized and said his friends were questioning his male bravado or whatever. He asked for my number and then he kissed me up against someone's Chevy pick-up truck." Lacey recalled. "God, this is so embarrassing." She covered her face, feeling her cheeks grow hot.

She looked over at Danny to gauge his thoughts on the inception of her relationship but his face was stoic.

"Chivalry is really dead." He finally said.

"Maybe," Lacey replied. "But I mean what would you have done?"

"Well, with someone like you, I would handle things differently but chivalry is awfully hard at teenage parties."

"No, no, how would you have approached me if you didn't know me?" Lacey was suddenly curious.

"Well, I'd try to be suave and introduce myself by pouring you a drink from the keg. Have some polite conversation, compliment your outfit, win you over with my immense charm, get you to dance with me, then I'd walk you home and pray you'd give me your number and if you didn't at least, I know where you live." Danny joked.

Lacey threw her head back in a genuine laugh. "Very smooth," She said, smiling at him. "Have you ever been in love?" She asked abruptly, immediately regretting it since the question was wildly inappropriate. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer." Lacey recovered, though she sort of wanted to know. Were there girls at juvie? Lacey didn't think so and if that was the case, how did those guys let out all that pent up sexual frustration? Lacey's eyes widened. "Are you gay?"

Danny let out a chuckle and shook his head. "No," He answered. "And yeah, I have been in love. I just didn't know it at the time."

Lacey nodded; his answer pounded in her brain. She didn't know why she was so interested. "So there were girls at juvie? Or did you guys have, like, mixers or something?"

"Mixers in a juvenile detention center!" Danny repeated in awe. "That would have been great." He lifted the straw in the milkshake glass and stirred the chocolate mess at the bottom. "There was a center for girls next door and we were connected by a courtyard so we would see them whenever we had free time." Danny explained. Lacey gauged his tone; it was far away, almost in a dream state. "And there was this girl, Raina, but I always called her Rae. She was probably the most interesting girl there. She didn't talk to many people and she said none of the girls liked her. Rae only talked to me because she saw me reading a book she loved and wanted someone to talk to about it."

Lacey was hanging on his every word. It was interesting to find out what kind of girl Danny liked because they missed that in their friendship. Lacey never got to meet any of Danny's possible girlfriends or crushes and with his rep on Green Grove, she never would.

"She reminded me of you." Danny stated. "She never let anyone in but when she did, Rae was this beautiful person: caring, funny, passionate, but headstrong and resilient. I loved it." Danny pushed his hair from his face to reveal a troubled, yearning countenance. Lacey couldn't decipher if he was lamenting his relationship with Rae or if he was yearning for something Lacey didn't understand. However, the intensity in his voice made Lacey believe that Danny was craving the attention and satisfaction Rae gave him. He wanted it back but Lacey didn't know where he would get it from. "Talking to her, gave me hope. She was like this reflection of what I left behind or who I left behind." His eyes went to hers and held her gaze intensely. "It was like I was talking to you."

Lacey smiled to herself. With everything happening in life, she hadn't thought of how Danny felt. He spent five years in a juvenile detention center with boys much older than him. Lacey heard stories about the abuse a young kid could get from the older kids. Being in such a hostile environment, Lacey assumed he would need some sort of salvation and Lacey was his in the form of Rae. She assumed that there was someone there that reminded him of Jo…"Did you love her?" Lacey asked, tucking her hands under her chin and gazing at him.

"Yes," He replied in a cavalier tone. "But there's a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. I loved Rae. She helped me a lot in that place and I will always appreciate that. But, I was in love with someone else." Lacey gulped in a meek response. She didn't know how to go about this situation but she wanted to know more; she had to know. Danny shifted his weight over and cleared his throat. "Are you in love with Archie?" He diverted.

Lacey nodded, wordlessly. Of course she loved Archie. That was a dumb question for him to ask. "Yes, y-yeah, I do. I love Archie."

Danny bowed his head and grinned, not pleasurably but condescendingly. "But are you _in_ love with him?" He pressed.

Lacey opened her mouth to agree but she knew she wasn't thinking things through. She had no reason to lie to him. What would Danny do? Lacey loved Archie. He was the typical, high school dreamboat and she got him. Archie was Lacey's ticket to normalcy after the destructive Desai five years ago. "How can you tell? You said you were in love? How do you tell?" Lacey whispered. Her voice sang of desperation and curiosity.

Danny glanced over at her, almost as if to see if she was being serious. His tongue ran over his lips as he prepared his answer. He drummed his fingers against the white countertop and shrugged. "I don't know." He replied.

Lacey let out a laugh of frustration. "Bullshit." She said getting a shocked response from Danny. "Pardon my French…but come on, you said you were in love so you know what it feels like, you know how your mind works under it. Just tell me." She was desperate to know. All her life…after Danny's departure from Green Grove…Lacey struggled with normalcy so her outlet was sappy, superficial teenage driven versions of perfection. Her view on love was based on reading confessionals in Seventeen magazine or seeing some girl pine over the boy on the football team in movies. Lacey wanted to know, firsthand, if her idea was right or if she was fooling herself for five years.

"Lace…" Danny started off; his voice was an apology saying, 'Sorry but every chick flick and hopeless romantic view you had was wrong'. "What do you want me to tell you? I knew I loved her when she handed me a crayon in kindergarten? If you haven't noticed, my life isn't exactly cookie cutter." Lacey sighed in a silent protest. She couldn't fight him on this because she knew she was asking too much. Lacey plastered a grateful, insincere smile on her face that she's learned to master over the years and ordered another plate of fries with the flick of her finger. "See, now you're mad at me." Danny pointed out, leaning over to examine her and poking her with his index finger.

"I'm not." Lacey brushed off. "I'm tired."

Danny rolled his eyes. "I'm not your boyfriend, so don't give me that stereotypical answer." He replied nonchalantly. Lacey didn't know why Danny so freely said things like that without thinking how it would make Lacey react. Danny picked up a fry from the fresh plate in front of them and wiggled his eyebrows like he was mocking her. "Lace, are you going to give me the silent treatment like for real?" Danny questioned. The thought never crossed her mind but now that he mentioned it, she wanted to just to see if his methods of getting her out of it changed. Danny narrowed his eyes and slid his stool closer to hers. "Lace," He whispered by her ear. "Lace…" Danny cooed, poking her in the rib causing her to twitch. "You're still ticklish." Danny nearly purred in her ear like a playful threat. "I'll tickle you in here in front of all three people if you don't open your mouth and say something to me." Danny warned.

Lacey arched her eyebrow and reached over him to take a fry and popped it in her mouth and smiled. "Are you testing me, Porter? Are you going to test the all-powerful Desai?" Danny questioned, raising his voice and glancing at her for her answer. He lifted his fingers and wiggled them by her ribs. "I'm going in for the kill right now, Lace." Danny said one last time getting a shrug from Lacey even though inside she was hoping Danny was just faking.

He wasn't, however, and Danny started to tickle Lacey and she wiggled and twisted under his touch. "Mercy!" Lacey shouted. It was their old word whenever something like that happened. When he stopped tickling her, Lacey hadn't realized how close he was to her. Her face was inches from his and his breath tickled her skin icily. Her breath hitched when he removed his hands from her waist, feeling the void of where his touch used to be. Her eyes searched Danny's for something…anything. She needed to know that he was feeling the same way. She couldn't be alone in this. She couldn't be the crazy one, yearning for his touch.

She licked her lips instinctively, knowing what she wanted now. Danny's lips quirked into a smirk and he leaned in closer, wiping something from the side of her mouth. "You had a little…" Danny started. Lacey gulped and bowed her head, embarrassed. "It's gone now." He ended, all while keeping that devilish, mocking smirk on his perfect bad boy face.

* * *

"Hey, do you want to come over?" Danny asked, pushing his hair behind his ear to get a better look at Lacey. "I won't lure you with blue ranch potato chips but I do happen to have Twinkies." Danny's lips formed that cute, little half smile as he looked at her cautiously, nervously.

"Danny, we've covered a lot of ground tonight but I feel like if I talk to you any longer or go to your house, I may fall in love with you." Lacey joked. Danny furrowed his brow in confusion. "Yeah, I can't tonight even though Twinkies sound delightful after two plates of fries and a milkshake. It's late and I should be home now." She apologized, watching as Danny nodded his understanding.

"Let me walk you home, at least. I know how scared you are of the dark." Danny reminded her. "Do you still sing that jingle?" He smiled knowingly. Lacey balanced on her heel and dropped when she caught sight of his smile. There was something about the way that he looked at her; it was like she was the only person he saw when he was near her. She bit down on her lip and nodded. "Some things never change, huh?" He said, nudging her. His fingers left a burning, electric line down her shoulder and she knew she wanted Danny to touch her again. She moved closer to him as they walked in the direction of Lacey's house. She could feel their fingers grazing along each other's as they walked wordlessly.

"Remember when we would sneak out to the swing set after the street lights came on and Jo never went with us." Danny said.

Lacey couldn't forget. She would tell her parents that she was going to sleep early and lock her bedroom door and climb onto the tree by her window and shimmy down onto the grass, all singing her little jingle. She would meet Danny by the swings and he usually brought candy or cookies or something because Lacey's parents hated when she ate junk food.

"I'm surprised you went…seeing how you're all afraid of the dark." Danny teased.

"Well, I knew that after that dreadful walk, I'd be with you…you know, my friend." Lacey replied, stealing a glance at him.

Danny took Lacey's hand and she nearly lost her breath. His hand was warm in her cool one and it made her feel secure. She remembered when Danny used to hold her hand—along with Jo's—on their way to school and she felt that nothing bad could happen to her when he was with her. "Is this okay?" Danny questioned. "I don't want to overstep any boundaries."

Lacey shook her head, flipping her hair to the side so she could get a better look at him. "No, you're fine. It's a friendly handhold, you know." She caught a glimpse of him staring at her lips and she felt herself gravitate towards him. Danny stopped under the cloak of an oak tree a few houses down from Lacey's. "Because we're friends and friends can do things like this," Lacey rambled. She was straying further away from the topic of handholding and moving towards something different…something that would overstep boundaries but Lacey didn't care. Both of their eyes were trained on the others' lips and Danny's hand moved from hers to her waist.

"Without overstepping boundaries…" Danny whispered, his facing inching closer to hers.

Lacey's breath hitched and she couldn't muster a word but only nodded helplessly but ready. Danny pulled Lacey into him with a sudden assurance and his hand rested on the small of her back while she wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's fine," Lacey whispered and closed her eyes and Danny pressed his lips against hers. His nose brushed against hers as he tilted his head to situate himself better. His kiss was loving and sweet but that wasn't what Lacey wanted right now. She wanted to feel loved by the person who used to love and protect her before she became _Lacey Porter_.

He was nervous and Lacey could tell as she broke apart from his slightly. "It's fine," Lacey mumbled, pulling him back into her and peppering kisses on him. "It's fine, Danny. Kiss me." She breathed.

Danny's eyes flickered up to hers and she could see the moonlight reflected in his dark eyes and he moved back into the kiss, more passionate than when he first initiated it. His lips were sweet from the chocolate milkshake he devoured not too long ago and she could feel them parting under hers. His hands travelled up and down her body as he began to take control of the situation. He pinned her against the trunk of the tree and pressed his body against hers. It wasn't as tense as she expected, in fact she had more rigidity in her body than he did. Lacey's hand worked through his hair and she extended her neck as he trailed kisses on her collarbone. Her groan received a satisfied laugh from Danny and he silenced it by kissing her on lips once again.

He was kissing her with a passion that was unparalleled. Lacey felt herself digging her nails into Danny's back as he toyed with the hem of her shirt. She desperately wanted Danny to continue but he stopped, leaving her waiting for his lips to return to his. "You should be home." Danny said, smiling as his thumb traced over his lips.

"So should you." Lacey replied coyly.

"Hey, my mom's going to start throwing her Tex Mex Thursdays again and I'd love it if you could stop by." Danny said nonchalantly like he never had her pinned against a tree.

Lacey shrugged. "I don't know. I'll see."

"If you do go, make sure you wear that cute sombrero." Danny teased. He took her hand and kissed it. "Now, go home. I'll wait here until you're home."

"Promise?" Lacey questioned, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. He was playing up that protector role that Lacey always loved about him.

Danny nodded. "Always,"


	5. Chapter 5

_**Sorry for the delay in the updates in chapters! This chapter is sort of strange with structure; it's the same few events happening at the same time but it switches between Danny and Lacey's perspectives (I really hope that makes sense. I guess when you read it, you'll see what I'm saying.) Anyway, I hope you enjoy. xx**_

* * *

Danny was seated in one of the new benches in the improved Mandelley Park. It was late morning, early afternoon and the sun held high, casting a bright natural light over his collection of Shakespearean sonnets. It was the only thing he found himself reading and he wasn't ultimately sure why. He wasn't a poetic, hopeless romantic type of guy but Danny believed that Shakespeare helped him the other night with Lacey. He never understood sonnet 18 until last night. He hadn't found his beautiful summer day because Danny was always in his own personal winter but Lacey was that first peek of sunshine through the gray, mottled clouds.

He could still feel her lips pressed to his. He could feel her succumbing to his touch. He made her feel powerful but ultimately weak in her presence. She was an enigma that he once knew all too well. His tongue ran over his lips once more to savor the remnants of her mystifying, hypnotic, and poisonous kiss.

A shadow casted over his book and he looked up to see Jo, smiling at him. He dropped his legs from the bench to allow her a place to sit. "Jo," He said invitingly, shutting his book. "How was your trip?"

Jo groaned, sitting next to him. "You and I know that a whole day in a confined space with my dad isn't ideal." She giggled. "It was fine." Her eyes flickered to the book clutched in Danny's hand and raised an eyebrow. "That's not for school." Danny looked down and covered his eyes bashfully. "Are you okay? You seem different."

"Shakespeare can do that to a man." Danny quipped. "No, uh, I just found it lying around my house and I decided to read it. It's quite moving, if you're into the exaggeration of it all." He saved.

"Or if you're a sap." Jo rolled her eyes.

Danny nodded, slightly hurt but he never took Jo's words to heart. She meant well even if her execution wasn't always what was expected. "Hey, do you remember those dinners my mom would have at my house?" He asked, alluding to the Mexican filled feast he was planning with his mother to reunite and reconnect with his old friends. Jo nodded, pushing her wavy blonde hair behind her ear. "Well, we're starting it up again and I was wondering if you would want to come over on Thursday and…" Danny's eyes wandered over to the pathway from the center of the park that lead back toward the heavily wooded trail by the river.

He spotted a clearly winded Phoebe Daly, whose eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. She doubled over and placed her hands on her knees as she took deep breaths. Behind Phoebe, Lacey came running in as if the rigor of the exercise didn't affect her like it did Phoebe. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she caught her breath and Danny noticed the way her shirt clung to her body. Her back faced him and he bowed to his head to not look at her while she stretched. "Wow," He said dumbly.

Jo followed his eyes over to Lacey and she groaned again. "I forgot she runs through here every Sunday." Jo said aloud. Danny knew it wasn't meant for him; it was just Jo scolding herself for being so 'stupid' and coming to another place Lacey would show up.

"Lacey runs?" Danny questioned, knowing the answer. It was a small detail that she didn't tell him. He didn't expect her to tell him; it wasn't significant but Danny wanted to know everything he could about this Lacey. He knew eleven year old Lacey with the wild hair and ripped blue jeans who didn't know the first thing about makeup or being popular. This Lacey was someone completely different but still compelling and beautiful to him.

"Yeah; last year, she and Regina went to Manhattan and did one of those marathons." Jo shrugged off.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Danny gushed, looking back over at Lacey, who was now talking to Phoebe. She rolled her head around and Danny noted how her hair curled at the nape of her neck and as his eyes travelled down her back, he saw the small but distinctive dimples in her back.

"It's cool, I guess." Jo scoffed. "It's really bright. We should go to Johnny Cakes or someplace where I can actually see."

Phoebe nodded over at Danny and Jo and Lacey's neck craned to look at the two of them. In a quick flash, Danny saw Lacey smile at him but she replaced it with a blank stare before turning back to Phoebe and resuming their conversation. "I kind of want to stay in the park for a bit. It's a beautiful day." Danny said to Jo, glancing back at her.

Jo bit the inside of her cheek and her eyes widened. "Uh, Rico's probably there now. We shouldn't keep him waiting." Jo pressed, getting up.

Danny nodded, slowly. He got up, stuffing his book inside his jacket pocket and glancing back at Lacey. She was pulling her hair back into a ponytail as she scanned the park until her gaze landed on him. She smiled coyly, winking at him before starting off in the direction of the trail just as beautifully she came. "It really is a beautiful day," Danny repeated.

Jo nudged him in the chest. "Shakespeare's made you soft." Danny scoffed at the idea but in the back of his mind he believed Jo had a point. Maybe Shakespeare wasn't making him soft but rather helped him discover parts of himself that he learned to push away in juvie. For the first time—in a god awful long time—Danny felt like a teenager wrapped up in adolescent problems like desire, lust, and jealous.

All of these new found emotions came around right after he saw Lacey. He wanted her and she knew that but there was still something nagging on his mind…someone. Archie, Lacey's golden boy, wouldn't let Lacey allow herself to be with Danny fully. Danny wanted Lacey to himself. She was his. As possessive and crazy as it sounded in his mind, Danny wanted Lacey—emotionally and physically. "Not soft," Danny finally said. "He's just bringing out a different side of me."

* * *

Lacey held a greater lead down the trail, so she bounced in her spot until Phoebe caught up with her. Her friend gasped for air as she clutched at her chest dramatically. "You…do…this…every…Sunday?" Phoebe questioned, wiping the sides of her face.

Lacey rolled her eyes. "More like every other day," She pointed out. Lacey had always been a fan of running ever since she was a kid. She, Danny and Jo would run everywhere they went. Jo would always tire out and complain about it but Danny always continued even when Lacey knew he was tired. Running was an outlet for Lacey to clear her mind. She would have joined the track team but Regina convinced her not to. 'Guys don't like it when you're better than them. You're already smarter and more popular than most guys in this town. Once you add faster, none of them will want to date you.' Lacey remembered Regina telling her.

Phoebe groaned. "Can we go to Johnny Cakes? There's a root beer float with my name on it." She begged.

"You're seriously going to get that?" Lacey questioned, her brow furrowing in a slight disgust. "That defeats the purpose of the run." She pointed out but lamely followed Phoebe in the direction of Johnny Cakes.

"I deserve that root beer float!" Phoebe replied, heading on to Main Street. "Hey, I'm glad you invited me to run with you." Phoebe said, bowing her head. "I know you used to do it with Regina and I'm no replacement but…thank you."

Lacey knew it had been hard for Phoebe to hang out with herself and Sarita. Sarita wasn't the warmest person to be around and Lacey still took Phoebe in to be a replacement for her late best friend but she grew to like Phoebe with her quirks and obsession with all things Broadway. Running down that trail by the Hudson River was something Lacey and Regina did every Sunday for as long as they were friends and everyone knew it. Archie didn't dare try to run with her the Sundays after Regina's passing and Sarita never mentioned trying to do something else for that hour or so. "Bebe, I've learned to love every bit of you. You're not a replacement. I would want to share this time with you anyway." Lacey replied. "I would hug you but…"

"Right, the sweat, and yeah," Phoebe interjected, giggling. "So…root beer float time, lady!" She shimmied across the street to Johnny Cakes.

Lacey followed as Phoebe opened the door. They crossed over to the bar and waited for someone to take their order. "You really shouldn't be getting this." Lacey pressed. She smiled deviously. "How about we make this root beer float more interesting?" She winked.

Phoebe furrowed her brow slightly but saw the grin on Lacey's face and she nodded. "What do you have in mind?"

Lacey looked over the counter at Scott Ogden's younger cousin who moved to Green Grove from Ohio. Lacey was pretty sure his name was Alec but she just called him mini Scott in her head. He was just as tall as Scott and had all of Scott's cute features but Alec was helplessly clumsy and scared to death of the opposite sex. "The first one to get Alec's number…without asking wins."

Phoebe followed Lacey's gaze to the bumbling busboy and agreed. "If I win, you pay for everything I buy in Johnny Cakes for a month and you have to introduce me to your cousin, Devin, from New York City." Phoebe waged.

"Done, but if I win, you have to run with me for the next two months and no more root beer floats for you."

Phoebe gasped. "Two months on Sundays?" Lacey nodded. "Done." Phoebe extended her hand for Lacey to shake on it. Lacey did so then focused her attention of her newest 'victim'. Phoebe waved at Alec to catch his attention. "Alec, over here!"

Alec looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened. He crossed behind the bar to stand in front of them. He pulled out his notepad to take orders and pulled the pencil from behind his ear but his hands shook tremendously. "W-what c-c-can I g-get you two?" He questioned.

"Are you doing something different with your hair, Alec?" Phoebe asked, smiling a bit too widely.

"N-no." He stammered. "I c-cut it last w-week b-but that's it."

Phoebe nodded. "It looks great. You have been looking so cute lately." She leaned over the bar and flashed a cheeky grin towards Lacey as if to say, 'I got this in the bag'. Lacey laughed quietly to herself. Phoebe didn't know anything about guys like Alec. She was being too up front and it was only making him more nervous. Lacey had to make him feel more comfortable before he would willingly give her his number.

"Alec, how are you enjoying this job? I mean, it must be cooler than…wait, where did you work in Ohio?" Lacey asked, offering him a sweet smile.

"Uh, I worked on farm." Alec responded. "Johnny Cakes is a bit fast paced for me." He looked as if he was shrinking every moment he spent talking to them.

"I bet." Lacey agreed. "Can we get a root beer float?" She ordered.

Alec scrawled it down on his notepad. "Just one?"

Lacey nodded. "Two straws," Phoebe piped in, smiling at him. Alec gulped and attempted to scurry away when Phoebe called him back. "Why are you running away?" Phoebe inquired, slightly possessive. She must really want that root beer float, Lacey thought.

"I-I was j-j-just getting y-your d-drink…?" Alec said helplessly.

"Bebe, let him get your stuff." Lacey said, eyeing Phoebe. She smiled sweetly over at Alec to assuage any type of anxiety he was feeling. He bowed his head and scurried to the soda pumps and began constructing Phoebe's drink.

"You're so going to lose, Porter." Phoebe wagged her eyebrows. "You better hope your mom pays you big time this month."

Lacey rolled her eyes. "You would win if you stopped scaring him." She pointed out, nodding over to Alec who was looking hastily over his shoulder at the two of them. She offered him a thumbs up and he reciprocated with a genuine smile. They watched as Alec struggled to scoop the vanilla ice cream and it landed in the root beer with a great splash, causing Phoebe laugh. He poured the concoction into a large glass and placed two straws like he was instructed.

"Here you go," He mumbled, sliding the drink over to them.

"Thanks, cutie." Phoebe winked.

Lacey nudged Phoebe in the ribs and focused back on Alec. Lacey noticed a bit of ice cream by his chin and she instinctively wiped it off. "You had a bit of ice cream on your chin." She whispered, flickering her eyes up to his. "It's all better now." She winked at him as he pulled away from him.

"Alec, get those tables!" A waitress said, juggling three trays of food. Alec stumbled back, waving awkwardly at Lacey and heading over to the tables he was assigned to. He kept looking back at her and smiling dumbly as if she said she liked him or kissed him or something much grander that it actually was.

He headed to a table and picked up the consumers' discarded napkins and glasses when Lacey waved at him causing Alec to nearly lose his balance. "Oh my god," Lacey exclaimed, looking over at Phoebe, who was trying her hardest not to spit out her drink. "Oh my god, he almost fell!" Lacey said in shock.

"I know!" Phoebe laughed.

Alec placed the used glasses in the sink and quickly rinsed them off. Lacey waved him over and he obliged. "W-what can I d-do for you?"

"Are you okay? I hope you didn't fall." Lacey commented.

"I'm fine, thanks." He responded.

"Well, we need to go. Can we have the check?"

Alec gulped, pulling out his notepad and ripping off their check and slapping it on the table. Phoebe checked both sides, expecting to see a phone number scrawled on it. "Alec, we should…"

"Lacey," Alec piped up, cutting Phoebe off. "I was wondering if you wanted…to hang out sometime? As friends, of course…" His eyes widened and she saw him clutching and unclutching his hands. She glanced over at Phoebe and smiled wickedly. "I know you're dating Archie and I…I just want to be friends."

"Alec…"

"Can I have your number?" He blurted out.

"Alec…" Lacey said again, frowning slightly. "I'd love to hang out with you…but…"

"I-I can give you my number if you don't want to give me yours." He compromised, taking the check and scrawling his number on it in haste.

"Thanks," She smiled. Lacey turned toward Phoebe who was in a state of shock. She slapped the money on the counter and got up in a huff. Alec furrowed his brow. "Don't worry about Phoebe. I'll call you sometime later, okay?" She got up and spotted Danny in the back of the diner. She could tell his eyes were trained on her before she glanced at him because he averted his onyx eyes, covering them with his hands. She bit down on her lip and he glanced up to see if she was still looking at him. He cracked an awkward, uncomfortable smile when Lacey saw Jo come back from the bathroom. She slid in the booth next to Danny and noticed the way he looked at Lacey and smiled bitterly at her ex best friend. Lacey drew in her breath and reciprocated with the smile she reserved only for those times when she saw Jo Marie Masterson; a smile mixed with venom and regret.

* * *

"Hey, I'll be right back." Jo said, slipping out of the booth and heading towards the bathroom. Rico watched as she went, Danny noticed, then continued on with his work. Danny was idly playing with the napkin holder when he noticed Lacey and Phoebe strolling in like they owned the place. They stopped at the counter and talked for a bit, Danny catching notice of how her dimple became more prominent when she spoke or how her lips pursed slightly when she furrowed her brow. A wicked smile passed over her lips and she shook Phoebe's hand as if a deal had been made.

"What's up with her?" Danny questioned Rico. The other boy looked up from his math notebook with a pencil ground between his teeth. "Lacey, I mean." He clarified. Danny wasn't as successful of getting a read on Lacey and Jo was no help so what better person to ask besides Rico, a non-affected third party.

"Lacey's the most popular girl in school." Rico said simply. "And she's smoking hot…I mean, if we w-were talking about metaphorical concepts of a-appearance." He backpedalled. Danny nodded, stifling a laugh. "She's, uh, dating the most popular guy at school. She's like…queen bee and everyone at Green Grove is her little worker." Danny continued to study Lacey closely as she leaned over the countertop, her back arching beautifully to accentuate every dip and curve of her body. "She's a bit of heartbreaker." Rico threw in. Danny looked back at him inquisitively. "My friend, Doug, heard this story that she convinced this freshman that she liked him and he followed her around like a puppy, doing things for her and running errands. Then, she cut him loose and broke his heart. He transferred to a school out of the district because he couldn't bear to see her."

Danny shook his head at the story. "No, Lacey's not like that; she doesn't seem like the man-eater type."

Rico shrugged, nodding over at Lacey. "I don't know. People change." Danny turned to focus on her. She smiled coyly at a bumbling waiter and waved at him as he tried to place food on a table. He was so enamored with Lacey's gaze that he almost dropped the food on the floor, causing her and Phoebe to giggle. "Look at her, she's got that tall, hot, confident thing…it doesn't seem so farfetched to me."


	6. Chapter 6

_**I am so sorry for the delay. I was vacationing and I barely had any time to write anything and school started back up, but today is the day! I hope you enjoy this chapter and make sure to comment and review. New chapters will be coming up more frequently. I promise! **_

_**P.S Thank you Younger Dr. Grey for pointing out the actual name of the park in the previous chapter. I completely forgot what it was called and I was too lazy to look it up. **_

_**P.P.S. In my mind, Sarita and Scott are an item so that explains their brief interaction in this chapter. **_

* * *

Lacey hopped out of her car and met up with Sarita by the front of the school. Sarita smiled and handed her a cup of coffee since Sarita usually went on morning coffee runs. "Morning, gorgeous," Sarita cooed.

Lacey bowed, showing off her faux leather skater skirt that Sarita bought for her a few weeks ago. She took a sip of the coffee and smiled at the warmth of it as it passed down her throat but she had to admit Danny's touch created ten times the heat that this coffee had. Sarita narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You look really gorgeous today like glowy gorgeous like sex glow gorgeous." Sarita grabbed Lacey by the arm and pulled her over to the side of the staircase. "Are you and Archie…you know…again?" Sarita wagged her eyebrows above the rim of her coffee cup.

Lacey scoffed. "That's my business, first off, and I'm using a new concealer, Rita. Get your mind out of the gutter." Sarita rolled her eyes and waved over at Scott, advancing towards them. Scott kissed Sarita on the cheek and gave Lacey a quick hug.

"You're glowing today, Porter." Scott admired.

Sarita nodded frantically, slapping Scott in the stomach. "That's what I said!" She exclaimed.

Lacey pivoted on her heel to deviate from further questioning when she saw Archie racing towards her. She hadn't spoken to him since she left his house on Saturday, partly because she was mad at him for being an ass but also because she technically cheated on him with Danny, though it didn't feel like cheating. "Lace," Archie shouted, stopping in front of her and taking her face in his hands and kissing her. It sadly didn't give Lacey the same satisfaction as her kiss with Danny and she stood there, hoping there would be more.

"Archie," She smiled smugly. "How are you?"

"Are you okay? You didn't call me when you got home. I was worried." Archie said, pulling Lacey away from the other two.

"I'm fine." Lacey replied, kissing him again and lingering by his lips to see if the same intensity was there. "See. I'm fine."

"That's good!" Archie responded. "Hey, I want to apologize for being a douchebag."

"That's what you get when you let your dick do your thinking." Lacey quipped.

"I know, so, I want to make it up to you. Thursday, I don't have practice and I know we have frees after lunch that day so I was thinking we could blow off lunch and drive to Manhattan and we can go to that museum that you wanted to go to. And maybe, we could get some dinner or walk around the park, have a picnic. I just want to do something romantic after being a sleaze ball 'cause you deserve romance and flowers and chocolates." Archie suggested, smiling dumbly like a puppy with his gray eyes twinkling in the morning sunlight.

"That sounds wonderful, baby." Lacey whimpered. She placed her hand on the side of his face and kissed him.

"So, you like the idea?" Archie questioned.

"I love it and I love you." Lacey feigned a smile. She didn't believe herself when she said that statement now because her heart and her affection no longer lay just with Archie. He latched himself onto her and guided her into the school as the first bell rang. Her peers dispersed from the hallway and into their respective classrooms when Lacey saw him.

Danny was casually closing his locker, Shakespearean sonnets in tow. He spotted her with Archie and stopped, making Lacey feel uncomfortable standing so close to her boyfriend. Danny waved at her and nodded over to Archie, then gave them a thumbs up, mocking her relationship with him.

Lacey couldn't pinpoint one thought in her mind. She couldn't decide if she wanted to go over to Danny and kiss him again or ask why he was playing off the kiss like it never happened or if she should stay by Archie and be the girlfriend she was supposed to be. Archie kissed her cheek and laughed childishly, poking at her lone dimple. "God, I love your dimple." He appraised.

"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" Lacey said, breaking away from him and starting towards Danny. "Don't pick on any smaller freshmen either. I'm going to need their votes for homecoming queen one day." Lacey warned. Archie saluted and walked off to his first period class.

Danny leaned against the lockers, coolly with one hand gripping his backpack strap and the other holding his book to read. He looked up at her, cockily, and smiled. "Good morning, Lace. The coffee smells delicious. Mind if I have some?" He inquired, taking the cup from her hand and taking a sip. "Wonderful." He grinned.

"You should be in class." Lacey pointed out.

"So should you." He mimicked. "You still coming through on Thursday, Porter?"

"Shit," Lacey swore. "Archie wanted to take me out Thursday." Lacey toyed, trying to get a rise out of Danny but he remained cool and collected which made Lacey seethe internally.

"Invite Archie to come. The more the merrier, I say." Danny suggested. "I'd love to hear how you've been from your boyfriend since we didn't talk about certain things on Saturday."

"We were a little busy with other things." Lacey replied, glancing at his lips. She bit down on hers instinctively and she knew that she just wanted Danny to stop talking and kiss her already.

"I know and it won't happen again." Danny responded curtly.

Lacey's eyes widened and she gulped. "What? Why?" She implored, attempting to sound nonchalant but her tone radiated unexpected desperation.

"I was in love with you, Lace." Danny stated, keeping his voice in a hushed tone. Lacey's breath hitched and she took a step back. "I still care about you and I want you. I really want you but I'm not trying to take you away from someone. When I have you, I want all of you—not bits and pieces that are mad at Archie for a day. It's selfish, the way I'm acting, but it's what I want. Until you're one hundred percent with me, what happened on Saturday can't be repeated." He said firmly.

Lacey tried to wrap her head around what was being said. He was in love with her but she knew feelings fade over time so he probably doesn't anymore. He was eleven anyway. She couldn't see herself leaving Archie for Danny. She didn't expect a future with Danny. She saw a future with Archie—a shiny, plastic one—but a future at best. With Danny, she couldn't see where they would be in five years if they lasted that long. With Archie, she could see a path for them: a perfect, normal path. But was Lacey accustom to normal? Her childhood strayed away from normalcy and she hated that. Danny would never bring a sense of normalcy to her life…but he brought a familiarity, a protection, an excitement, and a passion that she hasn't felt with Archie.

"You don't mean that. You're just saying it get a reaction." Lacey gulped back.

Danny laughed, nodding and sucking on his bottom lip. "You're right, Lace. I'm doing this to get a rise out of you." He flashed her a bitter smile. "Because everything I do is to get you to notice me."

She noticed an inkling of anguish on Danny's face but Lacey couldn't figure out if it was genuine or a ploy to get her to succumb to him. Danny was manipulative, Lacey knew, and she always wondered if he used those tricks when he was with her. For all she knew, he probably did the night they kissed. He managed to crawl under her skin and settle there. He was all she could think about. She shook her head. Lacey loved Archie. That was it. She wasn't going to think about the differences between being in love and loving someone. She wanted love at that very moment and not something she had to wait for. "Well, you better get yourself another girl for a booty call because it's not going to be me, Desai."

* * *

Lacey slipped out of her class, growing bored with reviewing the Newton's three laws of motion. Her mind still reeled at Danny's confession. She didn't know what to believe. It could have been possible that he liked her back when they were kids…but love? Love was much too strong of an emotion to feel at eleven, even now! Danny was probably kidding or over exaggerated his feelings toward her to get a reaction. He wanted her to doubt everything she established for herself.

Lacey pushed the bathroom door open and debated splashing water over her face to wake herself up. She decided against it and set her makeup on the metal ledge that jutted out under the row of mirrors. She heard a toilet flush and the stall door click open while she applied another coat of mascara on her eyelashes.

Jo stopped in her tracks and groaned, as she approached the sinks. Lacey glared at her through the mirror but concealed it with a forced smile. "Jo," She acknowledged as Jo pumped some soap on her hands.

"Lacey, still vain, I see." Jo replied, nodding at the array of makeup on the ledge.

Lacey drew in her breath, stuffing the mascara wand back into its tube. "Still wearing that mustard cardigan, I see." Lacey quipped bitterly, wiping under eyes and smiling at her reflection in the mirror just to play up Jo's assumptions. Lacey focused her gaze at Jo in the mirror and frowned. "What do you want from me, Jo? Do you want to bad mouth my decisions? Let's see, I didn't say good morning to my mom. Do you want to lecture me on that?"

Jo didn't answer. She ripped a paper towel from the roll and laughed to herself. "Not everything is about you, Lacey. You probably wouldn't know that because you've constructed this world where everything does. It's not about you…" She bowed her head, shaking it.

This wasn't about Lacey anymore. This was about Danny. It always came back to Danny, Lacey realized. "I went to the precinct last night and talked to your dad. I told him I was at Danny's house. It didn't exonerate him like I thought. But, I told him, Jo. You would know that if you stopped defaming me every time we cross paths." Jo's eyes widened and her lips drew in and Lacey could hear her gulp. "Why are you so hung up on him, Jo?" She knew she was being hypocritical since Lacey was falling under Danny's spell every time she saw him. She hastily put her things away and safely stowed in her bag.

"Not everyone has that popularity crutch, Lacey," Jo stated bitterly. "I don't have the whole school falling to my feet to offer their appraisals. Danny's the first g—person to make me feel special, like I was interesting. If he leaves again, I don't know what I could fall back on. That's one of the downfalls of not having a posse of superficial friends to catch you."

Lacey rolled her eyes. Typical Jo: making you feel bad for her then snapping back into reality and saying something to make you question why you'd ever feel bad for her. "Well, I'm going to head back to my superficial friends now and you can head back to…" Lacey took forward, looking down at Jo. "Whoever it is you're hanging out with now." She walked past Jo, hoping the conversation was over but Lacey learned from an early age that no conversation was over until Jo got the last word.

"You're a hypocrite." Jo stated boldly, causing Lacey to look back at her. "You're calling me out on 'defaming your crystal perfect character' when you throw backhanded insults at me."

Lacey's lips lifted into a venomous smile. "Would you like me to be blunt with you, Jo?" She questioned, taking a step toward her, watching as Jo slightly shifted backward. "Because I don't think you do." Jo folded her arms in a quiet defiance. "You were never one to deal well with confrontation, Jo." Lacey pointed out, alluding to every time Jo would back down or let someone talk to her in any type of way. "I know you think you've changed in these past weeks, that you've gotten bolder since you're wearing big girl pants, but you're still terrified of confrontation." Jo's lips thinned into a line and her eyes helplessly skirted the perimeter of the bathroom as if someone would come up and save her. "With that being said, no, you don't want me to be blunt with you because you're sure as hell not going to like what I have to say." Lacey continued, leaning in closer to Jo to heighten the level of intimidation. She could hear Jo's heart beating, pounding out of her chest. The quick, unsteady beating of Jo's heart made Lacey smile; she had gotten through. "Have a wonderful day,"

* * *

Danny headed out onto the quad, spotting Jo and Rico sitting down on the grass discussing an assignment or something. He still couldn't believe he told Lacey he was in love with her. It wasn't something he thought about telling her and if he did it would be in more of a romantic gesture. There was a part of him, the selfish part, that hoped after he said that he was in love with her, Lacey would realize that her feelings toward him were beyond a childhood crush and she would break up with Archie to be with him. Danny couldn't help but laugh at his childlike dream as he took a seat next to Jo.

She looked worried and Rico was trying to calm her. "You ok, Jo?" Danny questioned. Her blonde hair whipped around her face wildly as she turned to face him and she plastered a smile on her face.

"I'm fine. Are you okay? You skipped psychology." Jo noticed.

Danny furrowed his brow to play it off but he knew he couldn't. That psych class was going to be merged with sociology class for a two day special learning experience but Danny wouldn't be able to appreciate it with Lacey sitting desks away from him, playing with Archie's hair or showing off her long legs under her miniskirts. "I wasn't feeling well. I, uh, hung out in the library."

Jo pulled her lips to the side in thought. "Are you okay now?" She questioned, placing her hand on his leg.

"Yeah, Jo," He waved her off. "I'm fine. I'm great. I..I just wasn't thinking." He settled on saying. He offered her a smile which she gladly took and his eyes trailed along the quad when he noticed her, in the center of her usual line up: Phoebe to her left, Archie and Sarita to her right. Archie hand wandered lower and lower and Danny couldn't help but feel repulsed. Lacey was the only girl Danny had ever known that deserved so much more than she had now. She needed to be treated with respect, dignity, and above all, good intentions.

Despite Archie's wandering hands, Lacey didn't seem fazed by it; her head was still held high, her hair still shone and blew in the wind, and her strides were still long and regal like this town was hers. They settled onto a table with Lacey facing his direction. Archie sat next to her, naturally, and pulled her legs across his lap and tried as best he could to rub them gently. With hard, calloused hands like Archie's, gentle rubbing wasn't one of his strongpoints.

"How was that class, by the way?" Danny finally asked.

Jo shrugged. "If there was any class I wish I didn't have with Lacey and her group of friends, it would be that one." Jo said bitterly. "We're learning about relationships between friends and Ms. Fisk told me to come to the front of the room and pick someone to fall back on."

Danny's eyes widened slightly. "Did they…?"

Jo nodded. "Luckily, this guy came to my rescue." Jo smiled, finally bringing Rico into the conversation. "We did that weird fall back exercise and some of the comments Sarita and Archie said were just horrible."

"What'd they say?" Danny wondered.

"Danny, I don't think…" Jo started.

"I'm not a little boy. I've dealt with far worse than people like Sarita and Archie." Danny silenced her. "Just tell me."

"They just said how I would've liked you be there to catch me because I'm into that shit." She deepened her voice to mimic Archie's. "When I had to catch Rico, Sarita said it was my biggest dream to have a guy fall for me." She gulped, avoiding Danny's eyes. He didn't know how to help her without making himself seem more like a bad guy at this school. Danny hated seeing Jo being bullied because she didn't know how to respond to things like that. She would wait for someone like Danny or Lacey to step in for her.

"I'm sorry, Jo." Danny apologized on their behalf. He looked over at the Lacey's group. Sarita and Phoebe were sharing a bag of almonds while Scott was actively texting someone. The golden couple, however, was in their own little world. He couldn't help but feel jealous because it seemed that anyone who was in Lacey's presence had their world stop for just a moment. Jo was right; Lacey could make anyone feel important in her eyes but the problem was figuring out if it was genuine.

Danny felt his voice get caught in his throat as he watched Archie lean in to kiss her. His world crumbled when he saw how easy it was for her to kiss him back and with a smile. He wiped his hands over his face and coughed. "Did Lacey say anything?" He questioned.

Jo rolled her eyes, snorting. "Just give up on her, Danny." Her voice housed pent up frustration and anger. "God, she's not the girl we were friends with anymore. I don't know what I can do to show you that she doesn't care about how we feel."

Danny nodded slowly to make it seem like her words were sinking in. "That's not what I asked, Jo. I asked you if she said anything to you during class." He restated, keeping his voice composed. Jo shook her head, looking embarrassed at her unnecessary outburst. "Don't talk about Lacey like that, Jo. You don't know how she feels and you're not going to if you keep putting walls up. I just want us to get along. That's all I want." Danny smiled warily at Jo before getting up and leaving her there to think about what was just said. Hopefully, it would sink in but Jo was always a hard shell to crack.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hello everyone, I hope you're having a great day! I wasn't intending on writing this chapter but I recently bought The Civil Wars newest album and it's honestly a Dacey soundtrack so if any of you want to check out any of their songs, do it! "Tell Mama" and "The One That Got Away" definitely spoke to me and this chapter was a product of that. I hope you enjoy and a new installment is in the works. xx**_

* * *

Everyone was seated when Ms. Fisk walked into the classroom for part two of this class merger, scenting the room with her sandalwood perfume and filling the room with the clacking of her heels. Her hair looked curlier than usual and her red lipstick looked as if it was put on in haste, Lacey noticed. "Good afternoon, class. I hope you all had a nutritious lunch to fuel your brain." She said with a chuckle. Archie laughed but not with her, shaking his head at how easily Ms. Fisk laughed at her own jokes. She scanned the room and stopped on a student. "Thank you for joining us today. I hope you are feeling better."

"Never better, Ms. Fisk." Danny said from the back of the classroom. Lacey looked back at him and his eyes fell on her before Jo showed him a notebook.

"Okay," Ms. Fisk started, stepping behind the podium. "We will now stray away from friendships and delve into intimate and romantic relationships between a man and a woman...or a man and a man...or a woman and a woman." She stammered, her eyes roaming the classroom as if someone was going to swoop in and help her. "In science, there are three types of relationships, which hopefully you've learned in biology…but if you sailed through your freshman year, I will refresh your memory but apply it to relationships among human beings. First relationship is a mutual relationship, where both parties benefit and grow. Those, no doubt, are the healthiest of the relationships. Second is commensalism where one party benefits whereas the other does not but the unaffected party does not get harmed. Lastly, there is antagonism where neither party benefits from the relationship." She explained, looking around the classroom.

Archie rolled his eyes, pulling Lacey's legs over his. Lacey glanced at him and smiled quickly, running her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. Ms. Fisk's gaze went over them. Lacey felt slightly bad for any of the teachers that had to deal with the two of them in a classroom. Archie was never one for being discreet. They were always entangled in each other and managed to get their desk pushed together to be closer. Lacey never minded this arrangement but now with Danny in the classroom, she was feeling slightly self-conscious. She felt bad for flaunting her relationship in front of him if Danny actually did mean what he said. There was that burning in the back of her mind that Danny could actually be telling the truth.

"Toxic relationships are strewn across every platform. Some of the best novels include antagonism. Now, if you breezed through your two years of English literature, you won't understand certain references I would like to use. That being said, I will bring antagonism to something you all can appreciate: Hollywood." Ms. Fisk continued. "People may underestimate the power of perception. It's a driving force to many toxic couples in Hollywood. Two people get together because they feel they have to, to heighten themselves. After all, your partner is an extension of yourself, is it not?"

Archie picked up his pen and drew a tic-tac-toe board on his notebook, marking his first 'x' and slipping the pen to Lacey. "This brings up an interesting point. Let's say celebrity A gets into a relationship with celebrity B to benefit themselves and A sees it as an opportunity to better themselves. Both are coming into the relationship hoping to gain something superficial, something to brag about. Though they came in wanting to be changed, it wasn't for a wholesome reason. It was all for perception."

Ms. Fisk glanced around the room and Lacey did the same noticing how no one was paying much attention to the lesson. Lacey marked an 'o' on the paper. "Let's make this discussion hit closer to home, shall we? Let's see if our perception influences how we choose a partner, thus creating an antagonistic relationship." She stopped in front of Archie and Lacey and smiled. "Here we have Green Grove High's golden couple: Archie Yates and Lacey Porter. Everyone knows about you two. You're practically the Brad and Angelina of this town." She showed them off as if they were on display. "Archie, you are captain of the soccer team, right?"

"Yeah," Archie grumped, shifting in his seat.

"And you're a pretty popular guy here at Green Grove?" Ms. Fisk questioned. Archie nodded. She focused on Lacey. "Lacey, you are _the_ popular girl?"

"I wouldn't say that." Lacey shot down.

"Let's not be humble now," Ms. Fisk laughed. "Everyone note that we have a popular couple in this very room. In classic teen movies and almost every platform, the popular guy and the popular girl date, not because of mutual attraction, but because of appearances…perception." She looked at the two of them and raised her eyebrow.

Lacey felt her jaw drop. Was this woman going to stand here and bash her relationship? "That's not true and we are not in a teen movie so try again." Lacey snapped. She could feel everyone's eyes boring holes into her skull. She was being psychoanalyzed and picked apart like a lab rat just like when she was eleven after the incident. Lacey looked over her shoulder and the most chilling stare came from Danny. She couldn't place an emotion on him; he was just staring at her. Lacey gulped, looking back at Archie, who noticed her falter in confidence.

"Yeah, Ms. Fisk, Lacey and I are a-okay." Archie piped in, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"This isn't meant to be rude. This for science." Ms. Fisk said with a devious smile, rotating on her ill colored snakeskin heel. "What is the most important thing in any relationship?" She posed the question to the class.

"Sex," Sarita chimed in, laughing. The class erupted in a fit of giggles and Lacey smiled appreciatively at Sarita for relieving the tension in the room.

"Very funny, Ms. Cortez, but we all know that communication is key in any relationship and one of the reasons why relationships end in the first place. In antagonistic relationships, communication can only scratch the surface and not delve deeper. Why is that? Because the two parties aren't looking to learn about their partner, they are looking to reap the benefits of being with said partner." Ms. Fisk explained, walking back over to where Lacey and Archie were sitting.

Lacey ran her hand over her face and sighed. "Yes?" She asked.

"I think now it's time for an activity and I believe you two would be perfect." Ms. Fisk said. "If you're up for it, of course."

Lacey hated the smug look on Ms. Fisk's face. She hated that in the span of a week, people have questioned her relationship with her boyfriend of two years. She hated that she has, in fact, questioned her own relationship and Lacey couldn't help but place the blame on the easiest culprit: Danny. She glanced over her shoulder and wasn't surprised when she saw a fleeting presence of a smirk on his face. "Definitely." Lacey said.

Archie sat up at her response and nodded. "Yeah, let's win this thing!" He agreed in a deep voice.

"Perfect." Ms. Fisk smiled, taking two free seats and positioning them in the front of the classroom. "Take a seat up here and we can begin."

* * *

Danny watched as Lacey got out of her seat, bending down to place her bag neatly against her desk. She flipped her hair before taking a seat in the front of the classroom. Her lips were pursed in annoyance and she folded her arms. "So, we'll start with Archie. Lacey, I'm going to ask you a question and don't say your answer out loud and Archie, I want you to respond with what you think Lacey's answer is." Ms. Fisk explained the rules.

Archie nodded, looking over at Lacey who rotated her hand rapidly as if this exercise was wasting her time. "What is Lacey's favorite holiday?"

"Easy, Halloween," Archie answered confidently. "Her birthday is, like, a few days after it."

Ms. Fisk looked at Lacey for validation but Lacey shook her head. "No, I don't even like watching scary movie trailers. What makes you think I like Halloween?" Lacey asked. Her tone sounded shocked but it was backed by pain as if something about this situation hit her harder than it should. Archie's face fell. "It's okay. I can see why you said it." Lacey comforted him.

"What is Lacey's favorite color?"

"Pink; her room is pink." Archie answered.

"No," Lacey shook her head.

Danny laughed, causing every head to turn. He looked up and pretended to cough. "Something funny, Socio?" Archie asked, standing up.

"No, I just think it's funny how you don't know your girlfriend's favorite color." Danny snapped back, not going to bow down to Archie.

Lacey shut her eyes quickly and Danny noticed every wave of emotion travel upon her beautifully sculpted face, every emotion that she so artfully repressed in five years came flooding back when her eyes shut. She opened her eyes and it was like a switch turned back on and she focused on Archie, placing her hands on his arms. "Arch, my favorite color depends on the day. So, your answer is basically right."

"Yes, Archie, basically right." Danny tested.

"No, you think you're so smart, Socio? Answer the questions. You think you know Lacey? Answer the questions." Archie tested.

"I will." Danny stated boldly. He knew he was pushing it and he knew that Lacey would crucify him the next time they talked but he wasn't going to let Archie best him. If there was anything Danny knew, it was Lacey…at least he thought he knew.

"What's her favorite holiday?" Ms. Fisk appeased.

"Easter." Danny answered. _Because as a kid, she loved putting on a new dress that her mother bought, no matter how much she tried to convince everyone she hated it. _

Ms. Fisk looked at Lacey for validation and Lacey bowed her head, nodding subtly. "Yeah," An awkward wave passed over the room and the chatter began to die down and everyone was either looking at Lacey or Danny.

"What's her favorite color?"

"Blue," Danny replied, keeping a steady gaze on Lacey. _Because she used to say that when she looked at the sky, she realized that life was so much bigger than this town and that she wanted to experience life where opportunities were endless like the sky. _

Lacey gulped. Danny could see her breathing rate start to grow irregular. "Okay, we're done. The only thing these questions prove is that you don't know what the hell you're doing in this classroom." Lacey directed at Ms. Fisk, who folded her arms at how bold Lacey was being. "These questions don't prove anything; they're something you would find in a teen bop magazine. They don't show this class anything about the antagonistic relationship you think you've discovered." Lacey seethed. She got up, glancing at her watch. "Honestly, did they give BAs out to anyone back in your day? " She stated, staring Ms. Fisk dead in the eye. As if on cue, the bell rang and Lacey exited the room with clicking heels, flowy hair, and a budding anger. Archie, still stunned with widened eyes, scrambled to get up and taking Lacey's bag that she left in the room.

Ms. Fisk pivoted on her heel, smiling at the class as if she was unfazed but Danny knew when someone was embarrassed. "Have a wonderful day everyone." She said as students got up and trickled out of the classroom.

Rico joined Danny and Jo as they headed out of the classroom. "What was that about?" Rico asked to anyone willing to answer.

"That's just Lacey being Lacey." Jo rolled her eyes, catching a glimpse of Danny giving her a knowing look. "She was super defensive. Maybe Ms. Fisk had some truth about the whole perception thing." Jo replied.

Danny nodded slowly, not really hearing her. He spotted Lacey at the end of the hallway, as she spoke heatedly at Archie. He couldn't hear what she was saying but the idea of Lacey being mad made him sick. He wanted to help but Danny was the reason that she was up in flames. "But hey, we don't know what goes on behind closed doors, right?" Danny said to Jo, tapping her arm as he headed in the opposite direction.

* * *

"Lace," Archie called from behind her. Lacey stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder. Archie was running after her, extending her bag that she left in Ms. Fisk's classroom. She took the bag from him and kissed him quickly as a thank you.

"Are you okay?" Lacey asked, noting the red blotchiness of his complexion and the rampant look in his eyes. "You had a bit of a freak out back there." She said, alluding to Danny. The fact that Danny even had the nerve to even laugh made Lacey's blood boil. When he stood up to answer those questions—correctly—Lacey could see Danny growing more confident. His tone radiated arrogance as he proved to Archie that he knew more about Lacey's favorite things that haven't changed since she was ten. The way he smiled as he challenged Archie was as if Lacey was just some prize to be won and ogled at. Lacey was not a shiny, gold medal to flaunt and play with whenever someone was bored.

"Are you seriously asking about me when you flipped out on Ms. Fisk?" Archie snapped back.

"Look, Ms. Fisk needs to go back to school and learn how to teach because she can't." Lacey replied irritably. "She called out our relationship, Arch. She basically said that we're not a real couple. Why aren't you upset?"

"I know that we're not fake, Lace. That's all that counts to me." Archie smiled. "You still shouldn't have talked back to her like that. She could tell Principal Tang and you could get ISS." Archie said, concerned.

Lacey furrowed her brow at Archie's knowledge of the acronym. "You know that's in school suspension, right?" She didn't think she would ever get that even if Ms. Fisk filed a complaint to Principal Tang.

"Yeah, I know. Coach makes me read the school handbook every few months because he wants to make sure I don't do anything stupid that could get me kicked out of school." Archie explained.

Lacey bit back a laugh. "Your behavior can be a bit questionable." She said, running her hands over his chest. "But in school suspension?"

"Under disorderly conduct, it says if it's reported, the perpetrator can get a punishment ranging from a written apology to ISS." Archie bowed his head, probably hoping it wouldn't come down to that.

Lacey shrugged. "Even if Ms. Fisk told Principal Tang, my father writes huge checks to this school every year for funding and Ms. Fisk has already been reported for being too involved in students' social lives. I would come out unscathed." She smiled deviously, cocking her head to the side.

Archie laughed, pulling her into him and kissing her forehead. "You are devious."

"Only when it counts," Lacey pouted. She knew Archie would ask sooner or later about the whole Danny situation so she thought she better address it now that the wound was fresh. "About the whole Danny thing, he's just going off of memory. It doesn't mean anything." Lacey mumbled.

Archie nodded. "I figured that. Don't worry about. It only made me realize that I, not only want to beat the smirk off his face, but I need to spend more time with you. How did I not know you liked Easter?" Archie asked, wrapping his arm around her waist as Phoebe and Sarita approached the two of them. "I mean it makes sense, you do love those marshmallow bird things."

Sarita stuck her tongue out, pretending to gag at the couple's brief exchange. "You make me want to puke; you guys are so cute." She rolled her eyes.

Phoebe nodded accordingly. "You two are totally going to get married one day." Phoebe threw in, not thinking about what she was saying. Lacey felt herself go rigid. She glanced at Archie to see if he would scoff at the idea but he glanced back at her and kissed her cheek, not confirming but not denying either. She kept her mouth shut. "You were like made for each other. You're the epitome of a perfect couple. Archie's perfect and Lacey's perfect." Phoebe continued.

Lacey forced a smile, patting Archie on the back. Ms. Fisk was right, no matter how badly Lacey wanted to deny it. She dated Archie because he was the popular captain to show the world she wasn't the eleven year old with crazy hair who was friends with the murderer. She started to question her relationship with Archie when Danny came back. Danny was the reason. He would always be the reason; he would be Lacey's driving force but she didn't know if its direction was toward the idealistic form of perfection she created for herself or the pure source of chaos in her life. "There's no such this as perfect, Bebe, but I'm damn near close."

She looked past the three of them and saw Danny leaning against a locker with Jo and her gawky friend. Lacey didn't know if he could naturally feel her presence or if he already knew she was down the hall but his eyes met hers. Danny lifted his hand and tapped the side of his face three times and Lacey felt her heart stop, bringing herself back to when she was only ten years old. The three of them were in the fort and Jo proposed the idea of coming up with secret hand motions to communicate. Jo liked the idea of using the Macarena as a way of saying you're my best friend but that was shot down easily. Danny decided, being the overly sensitive boy that he was, that a tap to the head three times meant 'I miss you' or "I love you'. Jo hated that because love wasn't something meant for ten year old kids; it was meant for adults, but Lacey never forgot that slight gesture and neither did Danny.

Lacey brought herself out of her reverie and noticed how Danny was holding her gaze, waiting for her to reciprocate but she was too shocked and too lost in her own mind to think, let alone act on his gesture. Jo and her sidekick started down the hallway, heading to the door, and Danny followed closely behind, glancing over his shoulder to see if he sparked anything inside of her. He did more than just spark something inside of her, he lit a match and she would never be the same. Destruction was something Danny was good at. He ruined the whole world and now he was back, singlehandedly doing it again and Lacey was slowly beginning to like it.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Guys, I am so sorry about the lack in updates. I'm a senior in high school and it's been crazy with college applications and other senior related things. I hope you can all understand but the year has only begun and I'm sure the work will just pile up so you can message me on tumblr ((my name is**_** karenhale**_**)) and bug me as much as you want to update. To thank you for your patience, I will be uploading another chapter today. I hope you enjoy! xx**_

* * *

Danny helped his mother put away the groceries for Thursday's night of festivities. He didn't notice anything different in his behavior, nothing that would upset the harmony of the household but his mother noticed. "Is everything ok? How was school?" Karen questioned, rinsing off some grapes and plopping them in a bowl.

No, everything was not okay. He told his best friend that he was in love with her and she rejected him, saying he was just trying to spite her. Danny had never felt so crushed in his life. The whole idea of telling someone you loved them was already daunting and then to have them disregard it like it was nothing was heart wrenching. He had no intention of telling her because he didn't know if he still was. In actuality, Danny believed he could be. Though the major transformation, he knew that she was still that tomboy with wistful dreams and starry eyes. But could Lacey love him back? He was the reason for every inconvenience in her life and he was willing to take full responsibility for it if it meant that she would look at him more often in public. "Danny?" Karen asked. "How was your day?"

"Can I ask you something?" Danny interjected.

"You can ask me anything." Karen replied, pushing a bowl of grapes over to him. "Have a grape,"

Danny plucked one off the vine to appease his mother. "Have you regretted anything you've said?" Danny asked.

"Everyone regrets at least one thing they've said." Karen answered, bowing her head as if she remembered every ignorant remark she ever told Danny as a child.

"But what if you don't regret what you said, you regret the place and the context and the whole timing is off? What if that person just completely writes you off like it meant nothing but it means everything? What if you meant what you said but you don't know if you said it because you meant it in that moment or if you actually said it to spite them?" Danny asked, his mind was racing a million miles per second and he could barely grab one thought long enough to phrase it. Lacey did have a point; he could have said it in spite since she mentioned Archie not even two minutes prior. But Danny meant what he said. He was in love with her when he was eleven and arguably now or at least, heavy infatuation.

Danny looked over at Karen who was trying her best to comprehend the jumbled mess he just spewed. He knew it would be difficult to answer since he gave her very few details of the real situation.

"It depends, Danny." Karen started. "Sometimes you have to give them time to think. Some people take a certain amount of time to process what you say regardless of what was said. It takes even longer to act on it." She placed the last package of tortillas in the pantry. "But, it's not like you said 'I love you' to anyone so you should be fine." Karen joked, laughing at herself.

Danny drew in his breath. "Great talk, mother."

The problem with the whole situation was he had no one to talk to about it. Jo would be too curious and press to find out what he was talking about. His mother would eventually do the same but beggars couldn't be choosers, he thought. Danny would have to attempt to push this issue aside like he did everything else. This issue, Lacey, would be harder to conceal. She managed to wrap herself around his mind and settle into every crevice of his brain. He wished he could just stuff her back into one of those compartments of his mind but she refused and demanded to be on the forefront. Everything he did was ruled by Lacey.

"Are you sure you're alright, Danny?" Karen questioned.

Danny looked over at her and smiled. "Never better, mother." Lying was become all too easy.

* * *

Lacey wandered into the diner to pick up some food for herself since her mother and father would be out of town for two days and they didn't allow Lacey to hire a personal chef for the occasion. She expected to see Danny sitting in his usual spot, reading his book but Jo's nerdy looking sidekick was there instead. Lacey noticed him in a lot of her advanced classes but she never paid much attention to figuring out much about him. There was an odd sense of familiarity, however, when she looked at him. Stooped over three different textbooks and bopping his head to his music, Jo's friend was completely oblivious when Lacey sat in the booth with him.

"Lacey," He looked up, shocked. He pulled out his headphones and removed the highlighter from his mouth.

"What's your name?" She questioned.

"We've been in nearly all the same classes since freshman year." He said defeated. Lacey realized that she's seen him around before. He sat in the front of every class she had with him so she only ever saw the back of his head and Lacey was always tuned out so she never paid any attention to anyone's name.

"Well, it's either I ask what your name is or I call you Jo's sidekick." Lacey replied; her smile laced with venom.

"I-I'm Rico." He stammered.

"But not so Suave," Lacey remarked, cocking her head to the side. She knew she was overdoing it but she sort of liked how nervous Rico was getting.

"Uh, pardon my bluntness but why are you here? You're the most popular girl at school and I'm the nerd. In usual, cliché teen movies, the popular girl uses said nerd for homework or to make fun of him. I'm just a bit confused on which way you're leaning toward." Rico said, placing his hands under his chin.

"I don't need help with my homework seeing that we take the same courses and it looks like you're struggling with the AP World History essay." Lacey looked down at his blank piece of paper where his thesis was supposed to be written for approval. "And I'm in no position to make fun of you. I just came to talk. I don't have many people to talk to now." Lacey confessed. "But keep that between us."

Rico laughed, agreeing to keep her secret. "Have you started the AP essay yet? I don't even know what to write about."

"Yeah, I haven't. I've been too worked up about the calculus homework. Professor James needs gets to get off his high horse. Just because he got recognized in some lame New York teaching magazine for his college like curriculum, he thinks he can give the college workload but with high school deadlines." Lacey rolled her eyes then watched Rico laugh at her joke.

"He's completely insane with the amount of work he gives us." Rico agreed.

"So, can I ask you something?" Lacey inquired, looking over her shoulder to make sure Jo wasn't going to pop up sometime. Rico nodded while taking a sip of his soda. "What's going on with Jo and Danny?"

Rico recoiled slightly and shook his head. "Nothing; we're all just trying to help him out with the whole Regina thing." Rico explained. "I'm sorry for your loss. I don't think I told you but I said it a lot…in my head."

"Well, your condolences have been received. Thank you." Lacey smiled. "So, you guys are just helping Danny out? How? Chief Masterson is pretty adamant that Danny did it."

"You were there that night; you were with Danny so I think you'd be the best person to know if he would kill her." Rico shrugged. "But, I'm not gonna go all Jo on you and drag you to the police precinct to say anything. Do what you want."

"I actually told Chief Masterson that I was with Danny." Lacey felt unusually comfortable with Rico. If circumstances were different, she would have pursued a friendship with him. Rico nodded and his lips formed an 'o' shape. "Does Jo like Danny?" Lacey asked. "I mean, more than just a friend."

Rico narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. Lacey realized she struck a chord with him. Maybe he knows something or maybe he likes Jo and doesn't like the idea of Jo and Danny. If that was the case, Lacey and Rico were on the same page. "To be honest with you, I think she does. I mean, if that's what she likes, you know. Seems like everyone likes Danny; he's tall, dark, and mysterious. I think in the back of her mind, she thinks that if she can clear his name, he'll love her or something." Rico explained. "But, I don't think he sees her like that. He likes someone else. I can tell. I have, like, a sixth sense for these types of things."

Lacey let out a sigh and nodded, intrigued. Did Rico think Danny liked Lacey or was it some other girl? "Do you know who this girl is?" Lacey implored.

Rico shook his head. "I haven't seen him interact with many people besides us and your boyfriend." There was a tinge of resentment when Rico said those last words.

Lacey tapped her thumbs on the side of the table. "Hey, uh, if Archie did something douchey to you, I'm sorry. He's got issues with his male bravado." Lacey admitted. "But don't tell anyone I told you."

"Got it!" Rico saluted, laughing lightly under his breath.

"If you're not busy Thursday, I was wondering if you wanted to come to Danny's Mexican dinner thing." Lacey invited. "I'm sure Jo's coming so it only seems right to invite you, Rico."

Rico's face illuminated and his eyes twinkled. "Yeah, thanks for inviting me. I don't go out much." He thanked. "Wow; that made me sound desperate."

"No, you're not desperate. You're just looking for a good time." Lacey replied. "It's not going to be a lot of people, I don't think, just you, me, Jo, Danny, and Archie." Rico nodded, thanking her again. "So, I'll see in class tomorrow and hopefully you'll have your AP thesis written."

"Don't count on it." Rico groaned.

Lacey picked up a stray pencil on the table and ripped a sheet of paper from his notebook. "Here's my number and maybe you could call me so we could complain about it or brainstorm ideas." Lacey said, writing her name under her phone number in big, curly cursive. "Bye, Rico." She got up and waved at him, picking up her food as she walked out.

Lacey hopped in Archie's car, placing her food in the backseat. "Babe, I totally forgot but I made plans for Thursday." Lacey pouted.

Archie started up the car and nodded. "No, it's fine. What are you getting up to?"

"Danny's mom invited me over for dinner. It used to be a tradition and I think it would be good if I went. She just found out her husband died and having Danny as son probably doesn't help." Lacey explained.

"You're seriously considering going to that psycho's house? Lace, you're the smartest girl I know but this is really stupid of you." Archie argued.

"Why don't you want me to go? Even if you don't like it, you don't have any authority over me and I can do what I want." Lacey replied, pulling her phone out as it beeped.

"It's not safe, Lace. I'm just trying to protect you. If anything happens to you because of that Desai kid, I don't know what I'd do." Archie explained, placing his hand on hers. "You're my Lacey, babe. What would I do without seeing those dimples every day?"

"You're so cheesy! If Scott could see you now," Lacey threatened. "If you really do want to protect me, come with me to Danny's house. Maybe you can reason with him on something. You're guys, talk about sports or something." She convinced. Archie looked over at her as he approached a red light. He grimaced at the idea but Lacey pouted and pleaded. "Are you going to let Danny best you again?" Lacey remarked, striking a cord. If she wanted Archie to do anything, she knew where to attack him. "I keep imagining what his face would look like if he saw you in his house but, if you're not man enough to do this one…little…thing." Lacey's hand grazed lightly over Archie's thigh, keeping a sultry glare locked on him. "Maybe you're not the man I want." She whispered.

"Fine, I'll go." Archie caved. "But don't you dare even think that psycho could ever get the better of me."

"You're the best." Lacey cooed, leaning over the console to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Nope; that is not good enough. You're sending me into a killer's house and I only get a kiss." Archie groaned.

"If you behave, there'll be more for you." Lacey purred by his ear. "But only if you play nice with Danny."

* * *

_**Thursday afternoon...**_

If there was one valuable thing Lacey's mom taught her: it was always bring something to a dinner. Lacey scrolled up and down the simple guacamole recipe and checked the counter in her kitchen to make sure she had all the right ingredients. Archie would be there in about a half hour to help Lacey get ready and Phoebe sat on the kitchen island, sipping on her freshly made mimosa. Phoebe wagged her eyebrows as she watched Lacey frantically count and recount the number of avocados.

"I could totally see you in this element for the rest of your life." Phoebe joked. Lacey looked up and glared at her friend then took the champagne glass from Phoebe's hand and downed the rest of her drink. "Hey, we don't steal mimosas!" Phoebe gasped, getting off the counter top to make herself another one. "Seriously, I can see you being like a big time Manhattan type mom who's a lawyer and you, like, commute to the city and you have, like, two kids and a business type husband who played a sport in college." Phoebe stared off in awe as she contemplated Lacey's whole life plan.

"You're basically describing my parents." Lacey rolled her eyes, cutting open the avocados and tossing the pits away. "When you said you were coming over I thought you were willing to help me make this damn guacamole."

"That's bitch boy work." Phoebe smirked, picking up a chunk of diced tomato and popped it in her mouth. "Don't you have Archie on your beck and call, anyway?" Phoebe questioned, pulling the cork out of the champagne.

"He's obviously not here, Bebe. Are you blind?" Lacey snapped. She didn't mean to and she knew it would cause Phoebe to react. She was just feeling really skittish about the whole dinner. She didn't know why she agreed to it in the first place and now she was standing in the kitchen, decked out in sweats, trying to smash avocados to a perfect consistency. "Babe, I'm sorry. I'm just really stressed out about this dinner and Archie's not here yet and he's supposed to be here for me."

Phoebe nodded, drinking her mimosa and patting Lacey on the back for consolation. "First off, you look gorgeous right now. I kind of want kill you for it. Second, Archie will be here very soon. Third, why are you so freaked out about this dinner? I mean, you're making it a bigger deal than it needs to be." Phoebe noted. "But I mean if I were going into a super sexy serial killer's house, I'd be nervous too."

"Super sexy?" Lacey furrowed her brow, tossing the tomatoes and onions into the green goo.

Phoebe shrugged. "Don't even act like you haven't thought about it. I'm sure every girl has thought it but Reg was the only one who verbalized it." Lacey had to hide the fact that she agreed. "I mean, he's tortured, you know? He's completely untamable but with eyes and hair like that, you almost want to get your heart broken by him."

"You're crazy." Lacey stated, turning away from her friend. Lacey just wanted Phoebe to stop talking about Danny. It was bad enough that she couldn't get him out of her head and she thought that her friends would be too mad at him to bring up his name but Danny always came up.

"I'm not." Phoebe wrote her off. "But seriously, Lace, if things were different around here and none of that shit happened, you wouldn't even consider Danny as being, like, a boyfriend or at least, a hook up?"

"No!" Lacey lifted her hands in frustration. "I don't see Danny in any way besides the guy who ruined my childhood and killed my best friend. I don't want to kiss him or get my heart broken by him. I don't even want to look at him, Phoebe." Phoebe's eyes widened and Lacey noticed her friend easing up. "I can't make this fucking guacamole. When Archie gets here, tell him to make it. I need to take a bath." Lacey groaned, walking out of the kitchen.

"Didn't know Desai made you feel so dirty," Phoebe called after her. In more ways than one, Lacey thought.


	9. Chapter 9

"Lacey!" Mrs. Desai exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Lacey. Mrs. Desai held Lacey arm's length away and gawked at her. "You are truly the 8th wonder of the world. You should model! I swear, every time I see you, you get more and more beautiful." She cooed, ushering Lacey and Archie into her house. "Doesn't she just get more beautiful, Danny?"

Danny looked up from setting the table and his eyes trailed along her body. Lacey knew she looked good; she made sure of it. She tried on several different outfits but came to a consensus with Archie's help that she would wear her long black chiffon maxi skirt and a white crop top and her faux leather jacket on top. It was very 'model-caught-on-a-day-off', Lacey thought. "Mom, stop, it's just Lacey." Danny shot down. Lacey spied Jo and Rico in the living room, talking about something when Rico looked up and waved at Lacey, who reciprocated graciously.

Mrs. Desai frowned at her son before returning her attention back to Lacey. "Who's this?"

Lacey's hand fled to Archie's chest and smiled. "This is Archie, my boyfriend." Lacey informally introduced while Archie extended his hand to Mrs. Desai.

"Oh, my, Lacey, you're all grown up! How did I not hear about this when I ran into your mother at the grocery store earlier on this week?" Mrs. Desai inquired. She was getting flustered or rather frustrated at how quickly time escaped her and how, despite her desperation for things to remain the same in her world, the world outside of it is constantly changing. "How long have you been together?"

"Two years," Lacey said proudly, flashing an icy grin over at Danny, who was rolling his eyes as he placed the forks on the table. "I hope you don't mind I invited him. We're like a package deal." Lacey pecked Archie on the cheek and scrunched her nose up as she smiled.

"It's no problem at all, Lacey." Mrs. Desai shrugged exuberantly. "Jo and Rico are here and Danny's here, of course. Make yourselves at home."

Lacey bumped Archie in the rib. "Uh, you have a lovely home, Mrs. Desai." Archie started, feigning enthusiasm. "Lacey and I made you some guacamole for the event tonight." He extended the ceramic bowl for Mrs. Desai to take.

"Oh, thank you, Archie. That's lovely." She took the bowl from him and started toward the kitchen.

"I'll help you with that." Archie said, following her to the kitchen. Danny slid next to Lacey, replacing the spot where her boyfriend used to be.

"Taught your dog some new tricks," Danny smiled smugly.

Lacey groaned and she distanced herself from him, eyeing Jo and Rico in the living room. Jo's eyes met hers and she waved tentatively at Lacey. "Looks like you did too."

"Daniel, come help me put the food on the table." Mrs. Desai yelled from the kitchen. Lacey looked over at his mother in the kitchen, handing Archie plates and bowls to out on the table.

Danny rolled his eyes and groaned. "Better get over there, Daniel." Lacey smirked, nudging him.

"And hang out in there with your boyfriend. You know they say if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." Danny quipped.

"Daniel Desai," Mrs. Desai seethed.

"Play nice," Lacey patted Danny on the back as he dragged himself to the kitchen. Lacey stood awkwardly in the foyer but decided to make her way over to Rico and Jo. "Hey," Lacey waved. She had no trouble talking to Rico but Jo would prove to be the real problem. "How'd your thesis end up?"

Rico frowned. "He said it needed work but I thought writing about the golden ages of Chinese empires would be great!"

"It's too predictable." Lacey replied. "I mean, Professor James is all about things that are hard and make you think."

Jo stuffed her hands in the pockets of her ill faded jeans. "What was your thesis on, then?"

"The role of female rulers and how their actions influenced their popularity throughout their reign versus male rulers and their actions."

Rico nodded, taking it in and then nudging Jo. "That's really good. You could even talk about gender roles in politics over there now!"

"Yeah, that was the idea." Lacey silently thanked him. "But it's a lot if information for me to write by Monday, you know."

Rico nodded. "Didn't he say that he would allow groups of three if the work load is a bit too heavy? Why don't we work together? Our GPAs combined could create a killer paper!" Rico was getting increasingly excited about the idea but Jo's scowl showed a different idea. "Jo, didn't you want to tell Lacey something else?"

Jo groaned and she mumbled something incoherently to Rico with her eyes narrowed. "I wanted to apologize for forcing you to say something on Danny's behalf. Also, I didn't mean those things, uh, I said about you or Archie." Jo said.

Lacey smiled appreciatively. She didn't know if Danny talked Jo into apologizing or if she meant it genuinely but Lacey always loved a good apology. "Thanks, Jo." Lacey smiled, feeling two hands slip around her waist. Archie planted a kiss on Lacey's temple. "Babe, you remember Rico and Jo?"

Archie grumped and nodded. "Uh, yeah, you were in my PE class in freshman year?"

"We're in your PE class this year." Jo pointed out, annoyed.

Archie flopped down on the couch, pushing Rico to the side and pulling Lacey on top of him so her knees gripped his hips, straddling him. "Thanks for inviting me to the freak show." He whispered by her ear.

"There's a light at the end of the tunnel." Lacey replied. "Remember?"

"Yeah, it better be worth it." Archie groaned. Lacey bit her tongue to stop her from getting into an argument in front of all these people. Lacey swung her leg over him and sat down in between Archie and Rico. The four of them sat there awkwardly in silence.

"Okay, the food is ready!" Mrs. Desai yelled from the dining room. Each one of them got up and took a seat in the dining room. Lacey took a seat and Archie assumed the position next to her and almost by instinct and old habit, Danny sat in the chair to her other side like how he used to when Lacey had dinner at the Desai residence.

"Oh," Lacey said, glancing at Danny as sat next to her. "You're pushing it, Desai." Lacey mumbled as she turned her head, placing her napkin on her lap. She turned her attention back to the feast in front of her. They were teenagers, not starving children in third world countries; Mrs. Desai didn't need to make the immensity of food she did. "Wow, this is a lot of food! You didn't have to make all of this."

Mrs. Desai passed the plate of quesadillas around. "Oh, I only helped, Lacey. Danny did all the cooking." She said smiling at her son who bowed his head at the newfound attention. Lacey could feel Archie's muscles under her hand on his thigh. What did he think Danny was going to do? Poison him?

"It looks great, Danny." Jo said, giving him that classic puppy dog smile. She and Rico battled to fit a tortilla chip in the salsa bowl.

Lacey looked over at Archie, growing annoyed with his inability to pretend he was enjoying himself. "Can you excuse me and Archie please?" Lacey asked abruptly, catching everyone off guard. Mrs. Desai opened her mouth to speak but nodded lamely while Lacey got up and placed a hand on Archie's back as he followed suit.

Lacey gripped his hand and walked outside and stood on the Desai porch with her arms folded. Archie groaned before asking, "What's wrong? Do you want to leave?"

"Can you, at least, pretend to like these people?" Lacey inquired. "I know you don't like Danny but you're in his home and you shouldn't ice Mrs. Desai or Rico and Jo out. I've never asked you to do anything for me, Arch. Could you just pretend for another hour? Then we'll leave and go back to my house." Her hands smoothed the collar of his shirt.

"Can I get you out of this outfit?" Archie questioned dumbly.

"Whatever you want, babe," Lacey kissed him when the glow of the lights grew and

Lacey noticed a figure in the door.

"Sorry, mom got worried about you guys." Danny smiled. "She actually wanted to ask you about soccer, Archie. She used to play back in college. She was a striker like you."

Archie's eyes illuminated as his interest peaked. "That is my cue, babe. I will see you inside." He kissed her forehead again. "Seriously, Desai, nice house," He patted Danny on the back and disappeared to the dinner table.

Danny kept his eyes locked on Lacey's and he smirked knowingly. "What?" Lacey questioned impatiently.

"It's nice to know you're using sexual favors to get your boyfriend to come here. It warms my heart actually." Danny cocked his eyebrow. He took a step closer to her and he placed his hand on the small of her back and his lips pressed against her ear. "But I want to know if that guy you call your boyfriend makes your heart race as I much as it does when you're with me?"

Lacey pulled back from him and struggled to keep her gaze on his eyes without glancing down at his lips. She doubted if everyone at the dinner table could see them so if Danny was careful, he could have his way with her right now but Lacey remembered that wasn't happening anymore. "You're walking a thin line, Desai." She snapped, pushing past him and taking her seat next to Archie—who was engrossed in boring soccer talk—with a smile.

Mrs. Desai picked up a bottle of hot sauce and passed it around the table so people could spice up their already incredibly spicy food. When it came to her, Lacey politely declined as he fingers brushed Danny's hand when he took the bottle from his mom as he sat down. "Still not a fan of spicy things, huh, Lace?" Mrs. Desai teased.

"She never will be." Danny remarked.

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Lacey deadpanned, stabbing her salad with her fork.

Archie placed his arm around Lacey's shoulder and raised his eyebrow. "What? What happened?"

Lacey glanced across the table at Jo, who was biting back a smile at the silly childhood memory. "Danny and I forced Jo to eat bags of spicy potato chips one day and her retribution was pouring a bottle of Sriracha hot sauce in my drink." Lacey shook her head.

Jo let out a little giggle but stopped when Lacey threw her an icy glare but it didn't stop Danny from laughing. "Stop, it wasn't funny!" Lacey groaned.

"You couldn't even talk. You had your tongue out like this," Danny held his tongue out. "And you kept saying get me some water! But no one understood what you were saying because of your damn tongue." Danny laughed.

"Remember how red her face got!" Jo piped up, taking a sip of her water.

Lacey couldn't help but smile at the memory because it was rather silly when she thought back on it. "Aw, babe, is that why you hate going to Indian restaurants?" Archie stifled a laugh. "It brings back horrible memories?" Lacey's mouth dropped at how easily it was for Archie to make fun of her. She elbowed him in the side. "I'm sorry, babe, I'm sorry. No, that was horrible. They shouldn't have done that to you." Archie tried to console her but erupted in a laughing fit when he kissed her forehead.

"But the best was when I convinced Lacey that the wasabi was avocado when we went to the sushi place in Manhattan and she got so excited; she put the whole thing in her mouth!" Jo doubled over, holding her stomach as she laughed.

"YOU ATE WASABI!" Archie exclaimed. Lacey covered her eyes as the table laughed at Lacey's childish antics—even Mrs. Desai and Rico were exchanging cheeky grins.

"But, Danny, you always felt bad when Lacey did those kinds of things." Mrs. Desai mentioned. "If I do remember correctly, you got yourself some wasabi and ate it too to make Lacey feel better. You always had a soft spot for little Lacey over there."

The laughter started to die down and Danny's eyes trained on his mother in a mixture of surprise and frustration. Lacey quickly averted her eyes from Danny as she remembered that what his mother said was true. If Lacey fell off her bike, then Danny would fall of his bike and play it off as an accident. If Lacey got poison ivy on their excursions through the woods, Danny would somehow get it too and help Lacey get rid of it. Lacey never paid attention to it because she didn't think there was anything weird about it.

Lacey cleared her throat and extended her hand to grab the pitcher of lemonade between the guacamole and burritos. Danny had the same thought and did the same, placing his hand on top of Lacey's. She stopped short and looked over at him. "Ladies first…or Lacey's first." He smirked, withdrawing his hand while she poured herself some and assessed whether Archie would want some too and poured some in his glass. Mrs. Desai sat at the head of the table, watching over the exchange between her son and Lacey while everyone else engaged in hushed banter about other things.

The clank of forks and knives slowly died down and everyone was growing full. Mrs. Desai got up and started taking plates, nudging Danny in the back to help her. "Why don't you guys head to the living room and watch some TV or something." The blonde suggested with her usual chipper that made everyone want to do what she told them to.

Jo and Rico got up, talking more about Lacey's essay and how they could divide the workload. Archie followed them but looked back at Lacey for approval and confusion as to why she didn't get up as well. "I just have to run to the bathroom." Lacey said, patting Archie on his stomach but her focus was on Danny and Mrs. Desai heading to the kitchen with dishes. "I'll be in there in a few minutes then we can leave. Promise." She looked over at him as he grinned.

He kissed her hand and walked down to the living room, disappearing from Lacey's view. She got up and carefully walked over the old, cherry wood floors. She remembered how they used to creak whenever she walked quickly over them while they played hide and seek. Lacey kept her footsteps slow and steady as she approached the kitchen, making sure she couldn't be seen. Danny and Mrs. Desai were talking in hushed tones but when the volume of the television rose, they started to talk at a regular volume.

"That Rico is a nice boy. Jo's very lucky to have him as a friend." Mrs. Desai commented.

"Yes, mother, he's a nice kid." Danny replied. Lacey could tell by his tone that he wasn't interested in making small talk with his mother.

"Jo is just so cute. She's always been such a cute girl." Mrs. Desai said with a lightheartedness and she received a humph from Danny in response against the sound of rushing water. "Lacey is totally transformed. She was always sort of gawky as a kid, remember." Lacey's face grew hot in embarrassment and she waited for Danny to say something in her behalf. "But look at her now, tall and gorgeous."

Danny laughed while someone shut off the water. "She's always been gorgeous, mother. Some people just didn't appreciate her beauty back then."

There was a silence in the kitchen and Mrs. Desai sighed. "What are you doing, Daniel? What's going on in that head of yours?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Danny brushed off.

"She has a boyfriend. She's made that very clear; she brought him here tonight. Archie seems like a great guy. He may have his odds with you but he probably senses that you like Lacey." Mrs. Desai whispered her name like someone passing by wouldn't piece together who she was talking about.

"Well, Archie doesn't deserve her." Danny stated. There was urgency in his voice that made Lacey feel slightly proud that Danny thought that way. He valued her self-worth. "She's a trophy to him and Lacey Porter should not be reduced to one of those disposable pieces of spray painted plastic they call soccer trophies."

"Daniel, I just don't want you to set yourself up for disappointment, that's all. It's one thing to feel these feelings toward someone but they need to be reciprocated." Mrs. Desai answered in a wistful tone.

"In due time, mother," Danny replied.

Lacey could hear footsteps in her direction and she tiptoed back to the living room, letting Archie pull her on top of him. He nuzzled his head into the crook of her neck and her dark hair created a curtain around their faces so Archie could easily kiss her without getting embarrassed—not that he got embarrassed in the first place.

His rough hands roamed aimlessly around her body and by the clumsiness of his kisses, Lacey knew that Archie had no problem doing it here. She would never be this affectionate with Archie with people she didn't know and not in anyone's home besides her own but something about what Danny said made Lacey desperately want to feel like Archie was the only one for her.

"Come on, guys, we just got that steam cleaned." Danny whined, motioning toward the fabric couch they were sitting on. "There are many beds upstairs where you hormonal teenagers can fornicate in."

Lacey's face got hot and stood up abruptly, grabbing Archie's hand. "We actually have to go." She replied, looking Danny straight in the eye but it was proving to be difficult while the intensity of his words burned her brain.

Archie got up, placing his hand on the small of her back. "Thanks for the food and everything." Archie dumbly said. It was better than no thank you at all.

"Tell your mom we had a great time and uh, I'll see you all tomorrow." Lacey waved. "We'll talk more about the essay tomorrow?" She focused on Rico, who nodded and gave her a quick smile.

Danny walked them to the door where Archie gave him an awkward handshake then Danny's eyes focused on Lacey's. Lacey could sense that he wanted to say something and she wanted him to say something, anything that would make her want to stay and leave Archie. She knew that he wanted to her and he expressed it but she wanted him to let Archie know that but Danny stood silent. His lips quirked into that smirk and he said, "It was great seeing you back here tonight, Lace. It reminded me of all times…despite some slight differences." Danny's eyes trailed over to Archie quickly.

Lacey bowed her head and smiled. Archie was the obvious difference from Lacey now to Lacey back five years ago. Maybe the other difference was that they were older now and a mutual little crush could now be acted upon in a fuller sense than clumsy kisses on the cheek underneath the jungle gym on in the clubhouse when Jo had to go home. There were hormones and urges that raced through them, making their seemingly little crush amplify to something much greater. Along with greater ways of expressing their intrigue, there were greater things at risk and more emotions at stake that Lacey wasn't ready to deal with. Danny didn't want to deal with them either. He wanted Lacey in her purest state. No emotional qualms tying her down and keeping her from fully being with Danny despite her inner disagreements.

Lacey glanced up and let out a polite laugh. "So, um, have a good night." Her eyes lingered on Danny longer than they should have and she bit her lip, the taste of his lips still radiating on hers. Archie lightly tugged on her hand and she followed him with no physical resistance but a slight tugging on her heart when she saw Danny staring at her, longingly, from his porch.

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_**Again, I want to thank you for your patience and I will try my hardest to keep these updates coming. Please just bear with me. It'll be worth it! xx **_


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